


your mind is not your own

by spider_woman



Category: Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four (Comicverse), Spider-Man (Comicverse), Spider-Man - All Media Types, X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: And it's not graphic at all, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Peter Parker, Bad Decisions, Daken is a bad guy, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Heavy Angst, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I'm Going to Hell, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Kidnapping, M/M, Mercenaries, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Non-Graphic Violence, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter doesn't have much free will in this, Pheromones, Recreational Drug Use, Unhealthy Relationships, What Have I Done, i did my best to not describe any of it, pheromones don't equal consent, the only reason it's rape is because of pheromones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:26:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23738299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spider_woman/pseuds/spider_woman
Summary: Peter Parker has solid black and white opinions of the super powered people of the world. Daken, the son of Wolverine, is firmly in bad guy territory. But then they meet, and Peter finds himself with the urge to do whatever Daken wants. So he throws away his life and joins Daken on a several month long mission to blend in with the criminal underworld of New York City and overthrow Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of it all. As time goes on, Peter finds himself getting in over his head without the want to get out. The more time he spends with Daken, the more loyal to him he becomes. Is it too late for Peter to regain control of his mind, or will the Fantastic Four be able to save him?***PLEASE READ: This will contain some mildly graphic violence, mentions of self-harm, rape via pheromone use, recreational drug use, and mildly explicit sexual content. Please do not read if any of these things bother or trigger you. I don't want any of my readers' mental states to be hurt because of this. Please keep all this in mind and keep yourself safe! Thank you!Updates will be about twice a week.
Relationships: Ben Grimm & Peter Parker, Ben Grimm & Reed Richards & Johnny Storm & Susan Storm, Daken Akihiro/Peter Parker, Eddie Brock & Peter Parker & Venom Symbiote, Harry Osborn & Peter Parker, Johnny Storm & Wade Wilson, Miles Morales & Franklin Richards, Miles Morales & Johnny Storm, Miles Morales & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Reed Richards, Peter Parker & Susan Storm, Peter Parker/Johnny Storm, Reed Richards/Susan Storm (Fantastic Four)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Starting out with a short chapter, but most chapters will be much longer than this one. On Google docs this was 3 pages, most of the others range from 7-9 pages with the exception of "interlude" chapters. This chapter mainly serves as an introduction of sorts.  
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated, I love to hear feedback on what I write! Feel free to check out my tumblr as well (I post fandom-related stuff and shitposts for the most part). The @ is spidester, but here is a link because I know some people have had trouble finding me through search. https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/blog/spidester

Peter knew a lot about a lot of people. It was kind of his job. He had to keep track of the good guys and the bad guys so he knew who he needed to punch and who he could work with. There was a grey area somewhere in there, which was where people like Deadpool, Domino, and Cable resided. But for the most part, Peter had solidly black and white opinions on the people of the world that had powers. And Daken, the son of Wolverine, was definitely in the bad guy area. So he was surprised at the audacity the mutant had when he showed up in Peter’s patrol territory. He was just sitting on a rooftop, watching the city as if he was waiting for something or someone. Peter had the sinking suspicion he was who Daken was waiting for.

“What brings you to New York?” Peter asked, landing lightly across the roof from the mutant, “Felt the urge to get punched in the face?”

“I don’t think you’ll do that,” Daken replied calmly, not moving from his position, “I want to make a deal.”

Peter snorted. “Why would I ever make a deal with you? You bombed the Avengers Compound  _ and _ the Four’s Tower. Even after the Four tried to help you.”

“That’s the top of your list of awful things I’ve done?” Daken questioned, sounding amused, “Your priorities aren’t as selfless as you think they are.”

“Listen, I don’t give two fucks about the ‘vengers,” Peter retorted, “They treat every freelancer like they’re the next super villain. The Four, though? They’re my friends. I take that very personally. So yeah, for now I say fuck being selfless. You hurt some of the people closest to me, so I get to hurt you.”

Daken stood up and looked at Peter. “How about this? You beat me in a fair fight, I’ll leave you alone. I win, and you help me out.”

Peter crossed his arms. “Help you with what? Murder?”

Daken shook his head. “No. It’s about Kingpin’s criminal underworld.”

Despite himself, Peter was interested. Daken would be good help when it came to getting rid of Kingpin.

“What’s the catch?” Peter queried, knowing there was probably one.

“No catch,” Daken assured him.

Peter barked out a laugh. “There’s always a catch when it comes to you. What do you really want from me?”

“Nothing,” Daken insisted.

Peter’s Spider-Sense started screaming at him briefly before completely muting itself. He blinked hard as his vision blurred, feeling slightly delirious. He felt the sudden urge to go along with whatever Daken said.

“Fine,” he managed, “Fair fight. Right here, right now.”

Daken smiled. “Perfect.”

He lunged. Peter dodged, but too slow, his Spider-Sense still remaining silent. Daken’s claws slashed across his side. Burning pain followed, but Peter recovered as quickly as he could. He hit Daken in the face with a web and kicked his feet out from under him. Daken hit him in the back of the knees and Peter went down with him. They wrestled across the roof until Daken slammed Peter’s head into the air conditioning unit and pinned him down.

“Ow,” Peter complained with a groan.

“Does this count as a win?” Daken asked quietly, pressing his claws against Peter’s throat.

“I guess so,” Peter agreed, “So what’s the deal?”

Daken’s claws retracted. “You help me kill Kingpin.”

“You said it didn’t involve murder!” Peter objected.

“Don’t worry, pretty boy, I’ll be the one doing the murdering. You just have to participate. But not with the actual murder.”

“That sounds really illegal,” Peter pointed out.

Daken shrugged. “Your whole career is technically illegal. Deal with it.”

There was that urge again. The one to do whatever Daken said.

“Fine. As long as I don’t have to kill anyone, I’ll help you. What’s the plan?”

“Well, first of all, you’re gonna need a new costume,” Daken said, leaning back to sit astride Peter’s hips and give his suit a look of distaste, “Not that I mind getting to stare at those curves, but Spider-Man isn’t welcome among Kingpin’s gang of rats.”

Peter narrowed his eyes. “Are you seriously flirting with me right now?”

Daken smirked. “So what if I am?”

“You disgust me,” Peter snapped, sitting up so fast he got dizzy, “Get off me.”

Daken stayed firmly in place. “Hold on. You’re bleeding.”

He tucked Peter’s head into his shoulder and ran his hand across the back of Peter’s scalp. Peter winced as pain jolted through him.

“Maybe if you hadn’t hit me so hard, I wouldn’t be,” he said through gritted teeth, resisting the urge to get a strong whiff of whatever Daken smelled like.

“You smell scared,” Daken commented offhandedly, “And I’m sorry. You heal fast, right?”

“I’m not  _ scared _ ,” Peter grumbled, “And yes, I do, but that’s no excuse.”

“My apologies,” Daken murmured, “Maybe we can go back to my hotel room? I’ll bandage you up and we can talk.”

Peter jerked away from the mutant. “Hell no. You’ll probably just try to get in my pants.”

“Who said I wasn’t already trying?” Daken teased.

“Fuck off,” Peter growled, shoving Daken away from him but immediately wishing he hadn’t.

“Playing hard to get? Alright. But the deal’s still on. I won the fight fair and square.”

Peter glared at him. “I hate you.”

Daken smiled. “I know.”

They ended up at a bar instead. A bar Peter was very familiar with. Sister Margaret’s School for Wayward Girls happened to be the bar Deadpool and co. frequented the most. Peter hoped he would catch sight of the merc, but he was nowhere to be found and Peter was stuck with Daken. It was a busy night, and even Weasel and Dopinder were too busy to say anything more than a “hey”. Neither of them questioned why Peter was with a strange, dangerous looking man past ten at night. What great friends they were.

“So here’s the scoop,” Daken said after a skimpily dressed waitress had left to get their drinks (Peter had tried to refuse, but Daken had insisted), “We’re gonna need to get deep into the belly of the beast. Befriend Kingpin’s goons, get ahold of evidence the authorities can’t deny. We turn it in to them, then we- excuse me,  _ I _ kill him.”

“Why not just let the cops handle it?” Peter asked, “Avoid the killing?”

Daken sighed. “ _ Because _ they’re gonna fuck it up. And besides, Kingpin deserves a worse fate than spending the rest of his life behind bars. I would personally love to be the one to deliver his punishment.”

Peter made a face. “And you were lecturing me about getting personal? Hypocrite.”

Daken frowned. “You totally missed the point. I’m allowed to get personal. It’s practically my job description. You’re supposed to be the selfless hero.”

Peter was about to argue, but the waitress returned with their drinks. Peter didn’t understand why Daken eyeing up the girl made him so jealous. He hated Daken. Right?

“I still think you’re being a hypocrite,” he said, “But fine. So how are we going to go about infiltrating Kingpin’s ranks?”

“Kingpin likes good mercs,” Daken pointed out, “I say we give him good mercs.”

Peter narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

Daken leaned forward. “You. Me. New identities. I kill people, you just pretend to kill people. We target some big bads, get Kingpin’s attention. Won’t take long for him to hire us.”

“Why do you need me for this?” Peter asked skeptically.

“You know more about this city’s villains than any other person I know,” Daken explained, “You’re smart. Resourceful. And more than that, I know you would  _ love _ to see some of your biggest villains get taken down. Ock? Green Goblin? We can do that.  _ Together. _ ”

Peter sipped his drink thoughtfully. “Fine. But all the money we get goes to charity, got it?”

Daken beamed. “There’s that selfless hero. It’s a deal.”

He held out his hand for Peter to shake. Peter didn’t even hesitate. He just took it. And Daken may not have seen it, but under his mask Peter was smiling.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! I know I said I would update on Tuesday, but life got busy and I completely forgot. Sorry about that! This chapter has a bit of mildly sexually explicit content at the end, which is part of the reason for the mature rating on this fic, but it's not horribly inappropriate and you can skip it if you want.  
> In this chapter, I mainly wanted to set things up for the rest of the fic and introduce Peter's relationship with the Fantastic Four. It's a bit dramatic but it's a fun time. Enjoy!

The first step in a plan was usually the hardest. In the case of Operation Kill Kingpin, it was not. Creating new identities was easy-peasy for a vigilante and an anti-hero. So Claws (Daken) and Fangs (Peter) were born. They decided to go with matching costumes (Peter wasn’t sure whose idea that had been). Daken designed black leather bodysuits, black boots, hoods, and masks that covered their faces up to right below their eyes (the hoods took care of the rest). Daken also got the energy claws Reed had made for him, but Peter modified them so they were red and could kill. It was less obvious that way. Peter himself just got two vibranium knives. The blades themselves were about the length of his forearm, and the handles were perfect for a good one-handed grip. Peter could appreciate their design, even if he planned on never actually using them to kill.

The next step was actually convincing the criminals of New York that they were criminals as well. Peter knew it would be easy for Daken, but Peter had only ever gone undercover as a criminal about twice, and that had been for short missions (usually with Deadpool). His mission with Daken would take much longer. He had to dive much deeper into the role, but still balance his career as Spider-Man. So, at Daken’s insistence, he quit his job at the Daily Bugle. That way he could focus on the bigger picture. He also moved out of his apartment and to a nicer place that he shared with Daken. The only thing he refused to do was let Daken see his face.

“Our first target is Otto Octavius,” Daken said one night as they were eating Chinese takeout, “A big villain, but not as big as someone like Osborn. A strong start with a bigger finish, you know?”

Peter nodded thoughtfully. “Alright. How are we gonna go about this?”

Daken leaned back in his chair. “What do you know about him?”

Peter wracked his brain. “Well, let’s start with his powers. Most people think that his arms are controlled by an engine of some sort. They’re not. He was in a lab accident and can telepathically control them. But that’s also his only power. We get rid of his arms and he’s helpless. Not completely helpless, though. He still has a genius level intellect.”

“Genius or not, I can kill him,” Daken said confidently, “As long as we can handle those arms.”

Peter shrugged. “Should be easy, even without my webs. You can probably short-circuit them with your energy claws. Plus, my daggers are vibranium. They can cut through them.”

“Perfect,” Daken said, looking pleased, “Now we just need to figure out when to target him.”

“I haven’t been able to find his base,” Peter admitted, “I’m ninety percent sure it’s somewhere in the Bronx, but I don’t know for sure.”

Daken frowned. “Alright. I can work on that. For now, you focus on being Spider-Man. Keep everyone thinking nothing has changed. Fair?”

Peter nodded. “Fair.”

That became an issue when Johnny Storm got involved. He was Peter’s closest friend and knew pretty much everything about him. That meant he noticed when Peter quit his job. It took a while, but he did. Peter was sitting on the top of the Empire State Building when Johnny called him.

“Hey-o,” he greeted, “What’s up?”

“Um, well, I’m a bit confused,” Johnny said, “I just stopped by the Bugle’s office cause your lunch break is usually right now and I was gonna take you out, but I learned from Betty at the front desk that you  _ quit? _ ”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that,” Peter replied, “I just wanted to focus more on Spider-Man.”

Johnny was silent for a moment. “So how are you paying for stuff then?”

Peter frowned to himself. “Um, well, I’m not.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, uh, you know I’m friends with Deadpool, right? And he’s a merc. Kinda makes a lot of money. I’m living with him and he’s paying for things.”

“Oh,” Johnny replied quietly, “When did this start?”

“Like a week ago,” Peter said, “It’s not a big deal. Just makes my life a lot easier.”

“Okay then. Do you wanna go out for lunch anyway?”

_ Keep everyone thinking nothing has changed. _

“Yeah, sure. I’m on top of the Empire State if you wanna fly by,” Peter responded.

“Sure thing. See you in a bit.”

They ended up getting hot dogs and returning to the Empire State Building to eat. Usually Peter was perfectly relaxed around Johnny, but lying to him had turned Peter into an anxious mess. Still, he knew he couldn’t tell Johnny about Daken. Johnny had every reason in the world to hate the mutant, and if he found out Peter was working with him he’d probably lose it. So Peter kept lying and kept hating himself for it.

“So,” Johnny said as they finished eating, “What made you decide to go full time? Did the Avengers force you into a fancy contract?”

Peter snorted. “Hell no. I’d rather die than work for them.”

Johnny raised his eyebrows. “Damn, tell me how you really feel.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “You know how I feel about the ‘vengers, dude.”

“Yeah, you complain about them all the time,” Johnny said with a smile, “But seriously, why the change?”

Peter shrugged. “Sick of Jameson, sick of having to spread myself thin between work and more important work. Figured it was about time I took a page out of your book.”

“Might’ve been the wrong page,” Johnny commented, reaching over and wiping ketchup off the corner of Peter’s mouth, “You need to loosen up, you know. You’re always so tense. This isn’t gonna help.”

Peter frowned. “I can take care of myself, hothead. I’ll be fine.”

Johnny looked concerned. “Alright. I won’t stop you, but on one condition.”

“What would that be?” Peter asked, deciding to humor him.

“I get to take you out tonight,” Johnny replied with a grin, “And you’re gonna get at  _ least _ tipsy. Deal?”

Peter arched one eyebrow. “Do I have a choice?”

Johnny’s grin widened. “Nope. You gotta live a little for once, webs! We’re doing this.”

“Okay, okay,” Peter agreed, “I’ll be at your place at eight.”

“You can’t dress yourself,” Johnny deadpanned, “Seven and I pick out your clothes.”

Peter frowned. “Seven thirty and you get mind blown by my hidden sense of style.”

“Fine,” Johnny huffed, “I can’t wait to make fun of you.”

_ Thirty minutes later. _

“Daken, I need your help!” Peter exclaimed as soon as he got home (funny, when had he started to call their apartment home?).

“With what?” Daken asked grumpily from where he was glaring at his burner phone.

“You have a good sense of style. I do not. Can we go shopping?”

Daken looked at him like he was insane. “ _ Shopping? _ ”

“You told me to make sure no one thinks anything is different, right? Well, Johnny wants to go clubbing or some shit tonight, and he thinks I can’t dress myself. So you’re gonna dress me.”

Daken sighed. “Fine. But you know what this means, right? You’re gonna have to lose the mask.”

Peter yanked it off without thinking. Daken stared at him with shock, like he hadn’t expected that reaction.

“There. Mask off,” Peter said, “Can we go now?”

“I guess my nickname for you was warranted,” Daken commented, “ _ Pretty boy _ .”

“You can call me Peter,” Peter instructed, turning around and heading to his room, “I’m gonna be ready in five minutes, I expect you to be ready too.”

“We’re going to The Shops at Columbus Circle,” Daken informed him as they walked to the subway, “So you can go to H&M and maybe Michael Kors and so I can go to Whole Foods.”

Peter raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t take you for a Whole Foods type of guy.”

Daken shrugged. “It’s good food.”

“So what’s got you so pissy?” Peter asked.

Daken looked over at him. “Huh?”

“You seemed mad when I got home. What’s that about?”

Daken shook his head, his eyes darkening. “Fucking informant kept beating around the bush and never actually told me where I could find Otto. You were right, though. He is somewhere in the Bronx.”

“I can always swing around and do some digging,” Peter offered.

“You might have to. But first, I have some other things for us to do.”

Peter arched one eyebrow. “Oh? Like what?”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow. For now, we’re focused on having fun. Right?”

“Right,” Peter agreed.

H&M turned out to be the place to go. Peter got a new pair of ripped jeans and a black leather jacket that he planned on wearing with a plain white t-shirt and black boots (both of which he already owned). Then Daken went to get groceries, and Peter ran into none other than Sue Storm while he was waiting outside.

“Peter!” she exclaimed with surprise, “It’s been a while! How are you?”

Peter smiled at her and hid his nervousness. “Pretty good. How about you?”

“Same old, same old,” Sue replied with a smile of her own, “You’ve been shopping I see.”

“Yeah. Your brother wants me to go out with him tonight. He said I can’t dress myself. I’m trying to prove him wrong.”

Sue laughed. “Sounds like Johnny. He criticizes everything everyone in our family wears.”

“Are you just here to get groceries?” Peter questioned, “I know Johnny likes Whole Foods.”

Sue nodded. “Yep. I didn’t have anything better to do, so Johnny gave me a list and sent me on my way. I can’t complain. I needed to get out of the Tower for something other than crime fighting.”

Peter grinned. “I feel ya.”

“Are you waiting for someone?” Sue asked, looking around.

Peter nodded. “Yeah, I’m just waiting for a friend of mine. He went in to get some food and I didn’t really feel like it.”

Sue nodded in understanding. “That’s me every time Johnny drags me along on grocery runs. Well, enjoy your day. And don’t party too hard tonight!”

Peter smiled. “I’ll try not. See you, Sue!”

He called Daken as soon as Sue was out of hearing range.

“Yeah?”

“Sue Storm is here,” Peter said, “She just went into Whole Foods. Keep an eye out.”

Daken inhaled sharply. “Alright. Thanks for the heads up. I’ll be out in a bit.”

He met up with Peter a few minutes later, carrying a bag in each hand and a worried frown.

“Did she see you?” Peter asked worriedly.

Daken shook his head. “No, thank God. That was close, though.”

Peter took a grocery bag from him. “Let’s get out of here.”

Back at their apartment, Peter helped Daken put away groceries. Then he showered, watched a movie while Daken took a nap, and got ready to go to the Tower. He had Daken approve the outfit (Daken forced a simple gold chain upon him to really complete the look), and then he swung to the Tower. He went in through the front door for once, and Reed looked mildly surprised when Peter stepped out of the elevator into the living room.

“Hey there, Pete,” he greeted, “You’re dressed up nice.”

“Johnny and I are going out,” Peter explained, “Apparently I need to ‘loosen up’.”

Reed laughed quietly. “Well, have fun. Johnny’s in his room, I think.”

Peter headed there. Johnny was already dressed in jeans, Vans, and a tight-fitting grey shirt. He looked good even with such a simple outfit, but that didn’t surprise Peter.

“Woah,” Johnny said when he looked up, eyes widening as he took Peter’s appearance in, “I’m so sorry I doubted you.”

Peter smirked. “You should be.”

“You look really good,” Johnny said, still staring, “ _ Really _ good.”

“Thanks,” Peter replied, almost shyly, “You do too.”

“Well, since I clearly don’t need to fix anything, let’s go,” Johnny said after a brief silence.

They went back out to the main room. Reed had been joined by Ben and Sue. Sue whistled when she saw them.

“What a pair of lookers,” she said jokingly.

“Thanks,” Johnny drawled, “Don’t party too hard while I’m gone.”

“We’ll try not,” Sue joked, “Have fun.”

“Keep him out of trouble, Pete,” Ben added.

Peter laughed as Johnny gave Ben an insulted look.

“Will do!” he agreed as he dragged Johnny toward the elevator, “See you!”

Peter and Johnny stayed together once they got inside the club. They were there to spend time with each other, not random strangers. Johnny kept the drinks coming and they danced and danced and danced. Eventually, Peter realized he couldn’t see straight.

“I’m drunk,” he said in Johnny’s ear.

Johnny laughed. “That was the point, webs. Come on, dance with me.”

They danced until Peter was dizzy and his whole world was spinning. Johnny’s body was too close and too hot, and Peter pushed him away and secluded himself in a corner of the club.

“You okay?” Johnny asked, having followed him out of the crowd.

Peter nodded. “I just need to breathe for a minute.”

“Let’s go outside,” Johnny suggested.

They stepped outside, and Peter immediately felt more relaxed. He took a deep breath of the city air and smiled at Johnny. Johnny laced their fingers together and they started walking. Peter wasn’t sure where they were going, he was just glad to be in Johnny’s company.

“Johnny?” he spoke up suddenly, “You know I care a lot about you, right?”

Johnny gave him a perplexed look. “Of course I do.”

“I just want you to know that no matter what, I’ll always care about you,” Peter said softly, looking at Johnny and seeing nothing but love reflected in his radiation-bleached blue eyes, “You mean the world to me.”

Johnny’s eyes were soft. “And you mean the world to me, Peter.”

Peter wasn’t sure when they had stopped walking. All he knew was that Johnny was kissing him and he was kissing back. The whole world seemed to slow down as Peter melted under Johnny’s touch. His lips were soft and he tasted like beer, and his hands were gentle as they rested on Peter’s hips. Electricity raced up Peter’s spine, and they only parted when they had to breathe.

“Thank you,” Peter whispered, reaching up and smoothing down Johnny’s hair, “For everything.”

Johnny lifted Peter’s hand and kissed his knuckles. “Thank  _ you _ .”

“I should probably get home,” Peter said apologetically.

“Do you want me to fly you?” Johnny asked.

Peter shook his head. “I’ll get a cab. You go home and brush your teeth. You taste like beer.”

Johnny smiled. “My apologies. I’ll see you soon, right?”

Peter nodded. “Of course.”

Daken was still up when Peter got home. He was sitting on the couch watching TV, but he was also on his phone. He shut both off when Peter walked in.

“How’s Johnny?” he asked, standing up and walking over as Peter struggled to take off his boots.

“Good,” Peter replied. For some reason, he decided not to tell Daken about the kiss.

“You have fun?”

Peter nodded. “Lots. You want this back?”

He poked at the chain around his neck. Daken just took a step closer and gently unhooked it, standing so close Peter could smell his cologne and another, musky scent that made Peter feel oddly calm. Daken was warm too, but not as warm as Johnny.

“Looks kinda good on you, actually,” Daken admitted, “Maybe I’ll let you borrow it again sometime.”

“Why’d you wait up?” Peter questioned, looking up at Daken with curiosity.

Daken shrugged. “Just wanted to make sure you got home safely.”

Peter tried to take his jacket off, but his arm got stuck and Daken helped him. His breath smelled like mint.

“Thanks,” he said gratefully, “For both things.”

Daken smiled, a rare occurrence (even though he did so without his teeth). “No problem, red.”

Peter arched one eyebrow. “New nickname?”

“Just wanted to try it out.”

Peter gulped. The look in Daken’s eyes had changed from one of friendliness to one of something like hunger. Lust?

“Anything else you want to try out?”

Why was Peter encouraging him? Why did he  _ like _ the look in Daken’s eyes?

“Do you want me to be completely honest?”

His hands were on Peter’s hips.

“Of course.”

Daken leaned down, his lips brushing Peter’s ear.

“I just wanna see you naked,” he murmured, his hands slipping underneath Peter’s shirt, “On my bed, preferably with your legs wide open.”

Peter shivered. “I could probably arrange that.”

“You gotta say yes, pretty boy,” Daken whispered, hands sliding dangerously near Peter’s belt, “Do you want me to fuck you?”

Peter was ashamed of the loud whimper that left his mouth.

“Yes, please,” he replied quietly.

Daken slammed him into the wall and immediately started grinding against him, kissing Peter like he would die if he didn’t. He was rough and manhandled Peter, but Peter  _ liked  _ it. They lost half their clothes before they even made it to Daken’s bedroom, and by the time Peter landed on the bed he was completely naked. Daken’s hands and mouth were everywhere, and he shoved Peter’s legs apart and stood back to admire his work.

“Look at you,” he purred, eyes raking across Peter’s body, “You’re already wrecked and we’ve only just started.”

Peter trembled. The begging he was too ashamed of to put into words must’ve shown in his eyes, because Daken wasted no time after that. He fucked Peter hard and rough, showing absolutely no care for Peter’s pain level. When Peter screamed, he wasn’t sure if it was out of pleasure or pain and fear. But then it was over, and Daken picked him up and took him to the shower. He cleaned them both up and dressed Peter, pressing soft kisses to Peter’s abused body as he did so. He even tucked Peter into bed.

“Stay?” Peter asked weakly, reaching out and grasping Daken’s arm.

Daken seemed torn. Peter whimpered for effect. That was all it took for Daken to climb into bed with him. He fell asleep before Peter, his deep breathing oddly reassuring. But as Peter fell asleep, all he could think about was that it should’ve been Johnny.


	3. Johnny's Interlude (part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are two chapters titled "Johnny's Interlude" throughout this fic. They're just short breaks from the main plot in order to shift perspective. They're also both very short. I'll probably update tomorrow or the day after that because of how short this is.

Johnny normally didn’t interfere with Peter’s business. Peter kept his life pretty private, even to some of his closest friends. But Johnny was worried. Peter was acting weird, and he wanted to figure out why. For starters, Peter quitting his job made no sense. Sure, Peter hated Jameson, but he loved his job and that was why he stayed. Besides, Peter always said he hated people taking care of him, so the whole Deadpool taking care of his expenses thing didn’t make sense either. So that’s where Johnny started. The night after his kiss with Peter, he hunted down Wade and prepared to ask him some interesting questions. With a little hard work and perseverance, he eventually found Wade sitting on the edge of a short building swinging his legs and eating a taco.

“Well what do we have here?” Wade asked curiously, “Johnny Storm has come to see me! Shocking!”

“Let’s skip pleasantries,” Johnny said, “When was the last time you talked to Peter?”

“A few weeks ago. Why?”

That was an immediate red flag.

“So he’s not living with you?”

Wade’s mask showed his confusion. “No? Why would he be? Not that I would mind sharing space with him, he’s very tiny and doesn’t take up much room.”

“Are you paying for any of his stuff?” Johnny asked.

“Also no. Seriously, Storm, what is this about?”

Johnny was shocked. “Holy shit. He lied to me.”

Wade frowned. “Are you going to explain, or…?”

Johnny started to pace back and forth. “Why would he lie to me? Especially if he cares about me as much as he does? Unless he’s lying about that too. Would he do that? Fuck!”

“Calm down there, Torchie,” Wade said, “You’re too young to burst any blood vessels.”

Johnny ran his hands through his hair. “This doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe if you  _ explained _ , I could help you out,” Wade offered.

So Johnny did. He started at discovering Peter had quit his job to their sort of date. When he was done, he felt a lot calmer, but Wade seemed concerned.

“This isn’t like Peter at all,” he said, “He’s all about responsibility, so he’d never quit his job, and he never lies. He’s supposed to be a little angel.”

“That’s my point!’ Johnny exclaimed, “And last night he was saying shit like how he would always care about me no matter what happens. What is that supposed to mean? Is something bad going to happen?”

Wade resumed the pacing Johnny had quit. “This is worrying. It has all the signs of someone preparing for suicide. Letting go of their job and their things, wrapping up relationships, et cetera. But Peter has never seemed depressed.”

Johnny took a deep breath. “You think he’s gonna kill himself?!”

Wade shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. I hope not.”

“Jesus Christ,” Johnny said faintly, “I need to go talk to my family.”

“Wait, hold on,” Wade replied, “Let me give you my number. Keep me updated.”

They exchanged numbers, and then Johnny flew as fast as he could back to the Tower. Luckily, his family was all still up.

“I’m worried about Peter,” he said as he barged into the living room, “I think he might be considering suicide.”

All three of his family members jerked their heads up with shock and horror.

“ _ What?! _ ” Sue exclaimed first.

Johnny explained everything to them, including his talk with Wade.

“I did kiss him, though,” he said when he was done, lovesickness briefly covering his panic, “But then he thanked me for everything? Like it was the last time he would be able to or something.”

“He was drunk,” Ben pointed out, “Hell, you were too. Maybe you misheard him.”

“I didn’t,” Johnny snapped, “And you know they say that drunk words are sober thoughts.”

“Have you talked to him today?” Reed asked.

Johnny shook his head. “We sent each other streaks, otherwise he left me on opened. Said he was busy. And I would stalk him on Snap Map, but I can’t see his location anymore. I have no idea when he turned that off.”

“Invite him over for breakfast,” Sue suggested, “We’ll talk to him then.”

Johnny did as she asked. Peter agreed to it and said he’d be there by eight thirty. Johnny knew there wasn’t anything else he could do, so he went to bed. He didn’t sleep well, and he woke up early. He showered and got dressed, then waited patiently for the others to wake up. They all eventually came out to the kitchen. Johnny had just started making breakfast when Sue got a notification that Peter’s handprint had been scanned on the front door. He got upstairs a few minutes later.

“Good morning,” he said with a big yawn, “I must warn you, I haven’t had coffee yet.”

Sue poured him some. He dumped in three packets of sugar before drinking it.

“Late night?” Reed asked as Peter slumped into one of the chairs on the island.

Peter nodded tiredly. “Yeah. Whatcha making, flamethrower?”

“Omelets,” Johnny responded, “Wade keep you up or something?”

“No. I was out on patrol. Had to deal with some mess with a gang.”

For the first time, Johnny noticed the finger-shaped bruises around Peter’s neck. He eyed them worriedly.

“What happened to your neck?” Ben asked, beating Johnny to the question.

Peter made a face. Was that guilt that Johnny briefly spotted?

“My Spider-Sense hasn’t really been working,” he said, “Some guy got the jump on me.”

Reed looked alarmed. “Hasn’t been working? Isn’t that something that should always be working, like sight and smell?”

Peter frowned. “Not technically. When I was younger, it would stop working when I was stressed or anxious for a long period of time.”

“Have you been stressed and anxious recently?” Sue asked with concern.

Peter bit his lip. “Kinda. Not really. I don’t know.”

Johnny and Sue exchanged worried looks.

“Do you want to talk about anything, Pete?” Sue asked gently.

Peter shook his head. “No. I’m fine.”

Johnny waited to challenge that statement until after they had all finished eating. Peter went to stand and put his plate in the sink, but Reed stretched an arm over and pushed him back down. Peter gave him a confused look.

“We want to talk to you, Peter,” Reed said, “Johnny’s told us some concerning things.”

Peter looked over at Johnny and gave him an equally confused look.

“You’ve been lying to me,” Johnny said bluntly, “I talked to Wade last night. You haven’t been living with him, and he’s definitely not paying for your stuff.”

Peter got pale. “I can explain.”

“Please do,” Johnny replied, “I’m not mad, Pete, I’m just worried. Wade thinks you’re showing signs of wanting to commit suicide.”

Peter choked. “What?! No, holy shit!”

“Then what is it?” Ben asked, “From what Johnny has told us, you’re acting very strange.”

Peter looked trapped. “It’s… complicated.”

“So is Sudoku, and I somehow know how to do that,” Johnny commented, “Just talk to us, Pete.”

Peter took a deep breath. “I can’t tell you much without ruining everything.”

“Let’s start with something simple,” Sue said, “How are you paying for stuff? And where are you living?”

“Someone else is paying for it, and in an apartment in Brooklyn,” Peter replied.

“Who?” Reed asked.

Peter shook his head and stayed quiet.

“Is this person hurting you?” Sue questioned.

Peter shook his head again. “No, of course not. We’re just working together.”

Reed raised his eyebrows. “On what?”

Peter grimaced. “Something that will make this city a lot safer. And listen, I’d love to tell you more, but I can’t. If anything about this mission leaks, I’m a dead man. That means not telling anyone  _ anything _ , no matter how close we are. I’m sorry. Maybe when this is all over, I’ll tell you, but not right now.”

“That’s okay, Peter,” Sue said understandingly, “That happens in this career sometimes. We get it.”

“Just tell us right away next time, okay?” Johnny asked.  _ Especially me. _

Peter smiled softly at him. “Of course.”

After Peter had left, the Four relaxed in the living room. Reed was reading, Ben was watching a TV show, Sue was going through her phone, and Johnny was watching Tik Toks.

“I found an article about what Peter was talking about,” Sue commented suddenly, “The thing about how he was dealing with a gang last night, remember?”

The other three all focused on her. Johnny was always interested in the badass stuff Peter did when Johnny wasn’t there to see it in person, and Ben and Reed just liked to be on top of things.

“What does it say?” Ben asked.

Sue scanned the article. “There was a gang meeting up somewhere, apparently they deal in human trafficking.” She stopped suddenly and frowned.

“What is it?” Reed questioned.

Sue held up one finger and quickly scrolled through the rest of the article. Her frown got more pronounced with every word she read.

“Hello?” Johnny pressed.

Sue looked up. “This doesn’t make sense.”

“What doesn’t make sense?” Ben queried.

“Spider-Man was never there,” Sue stated with a frown, “It was two new vigilantes. And they killed  _ everyone _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to talk about here. The Four are quite obviously being misled when it comes to what Peter's been up to, but they're slowly figuring things out. As for Peter's Spider-Sense not working: Daken's using his pheromones constantly. He wants Peter to always feel safe around him, so that means using "comfort pheromones" to make sure he stays feeling safe. They overpower his Spider-Sense (since it's a danger sense).  
> And then I hit y'all with a cliffhanger. Sorry not sorry lmao. Things will sort themselves out in the next chapter. Until then, have a good day/night! -Spides


	4. Chapter 4

_ One day previous _

When Peter woke up, the first thing he noticed was how sore he was. He blamed that on Daken being  _ way _ too rough, but the older man appeased him with breakfast in bed.

“I have something for us to do tonight,” Daken said as Peter ate, “You know we can’t just slam into the villain world by killing Otto, right?”

Peter paused in taking a bite of his eggs. “Well, duh. I figured you’d have something for us to do soon. What is it?”

“There’s a gang that’s been dealing in human trafficking,” Daken explained, “They’re holding an auction tonight. We’re gonna interrupt it.”

Peter took a sip of orange juice. “Sounds easy.”

Daken shrugged. “Probably will be. But we’re getting paid big bucks either way.”

“Lit,” Peter replied with a smirk.

“Hey, I wanted to ask you something,” Daken said suddenly, “What’s up with these?”

He pointed to the tally marks that ran across Peter’s collarbones and circled around the back and sides of his neck. Twenty sets of five, plus three that stood alone.

“Each one is a person,” Peter responded quietly, “A person that died because I couldn’t protect them. It’s how I deal with the guilt.”

Daken frowned. “Why? You can’t save everyone.”

Peter sighed. “It’s so I remember why I’m still Spider-Man. If I stopped, that’d be a hundred more people dead.”

Daken made a face. “Seems pointless to me. People die. It just happens.”

Peter shrugged. “I guess. I just felt bad at the time.”

“Well, don’t,” Daken said simply, “Things happen for a reason.”

Peter raised his eyebrows. “Fair enough.”

“Come here,” Daken said, setting Peter’s breakfast aside and leaning into him, “You’ve gotta be ready for round two by now.”

His fingers wrapped around Peter’s throat as he kissed him. He didn’t really seem aware of it until Peter pushed forward into his grip with a soft whine. And that was how they both discovered they were into choking.

That night, they suited up and left on Daken’s motorcycle. The warehouse they had to stake out seemed empty, but it wasn’t long before cars started arriving. Once it seemed like all the guests had arrived, Daken took out the guards at the door and they snuck in. The auction had already started, and there was a terrified-looking child standing on a raised platform. Peter’s blood boiled.

“Do whatever it takes,” Daken whispered.

“Yes, sir,” Peter growled, his vision turning red

What happened after that was a blur, but eventually the world came back into focus and Peter realized he was standing over several dead bodies. His chest was heaving and his swords were soaked in blood, but the civilians were safe.

“Camera,” Daken pointed out, stepping over the body of the dead cameraman and shutting it off, “Wanna pitch it?”

“Leave it,” Peter suggested, “It sends a message. Wanna help me here?”

They released all the civilians together, then got out of the warehouse as fast as they could. The police arrived a few minutes later. They observed for a bit longer, then went back home to clean up.

“I’m going to meet up with the guy who hired us,” Daken said when he was blood free, “Get some sleep.”

Peter didn’t get any sleep. He snapped Johnny for a bit (he wanted Peter to come over for breakfast). Then he got drunk, and when Daken got home he immediately dragged him to bed.

“We should be celebrating,” he purred as he straddled the man, “Allow me to take care of you.”

Daken grinned up at him. “You can do whatever you want.”

Peter smirked. “Aye aye, captain.”

_ Present _

Peter was still on his way home from breakfast with the Four when Johnny called him. He paused his swinging and landed on a rooftop to answer the phone.

“Are you lying to us again?” Johnny demanded as soon as he picked up.

“What?” Peter asked, confused and nervous.  _ What now? _

“You said you had to deal with a gang last night. But the biggest thing with a gang we’ve seen in the news is two vigilantes killing every single buyer and gang member involved in a human trafficking auction. Spider-Man wasn’t involved.”

“What?! When did that happen?” Peter questioned, hoping he sounded confused and shocked.

“Last night! So either you killed some people, or you were lying about where you were.”

“Neither,” Peter insisted, “I was in Brooklyn last night, dealing with gang on gang violence. I had no idea that even happened.”

“Oh,” Johnny said, sounding relieved.

“I looked at the video of what happened,” Sue spoke up (apparently Peter was on speakerphone), “You said you got choked last night, right?”

“Um, yeah? Why?”

“Well, neither of those vigilantes got choked. So it obviously wasn’t you.”

“No shit!” Peter exclaimed, “Why would you even think that?”

“We shouldn’t have,” Johnny admitted, “Sorry, Pete.”

“It’s fine,” Peter grumbled, “Just don’t jump to conclusions next time, okay?”

“Sorry,” Sue apologized, “Have a good day, Pete.”

They hung up. Peter frowned to himself before continuing on his way home. Daken pounced on him as soon as he got inside, lifting him by the waist and swinging him around.

“Woah!” Peter exclaimed, “What is this about?”

“I found Otto!” Daken replied triumphantly, setting Peter down and kissing him on the forehead, “We’ve got about a day to prepare. We’re killing him tomorrow night.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “Really? Wow, okay. What do you want me to do?”

“I need you to analyze floor plans,” Daken said, “Figure out how to get in and out without being spotted. And also figure out where Otto will be. He  _ can’t _ escape. We’re only gonna get one chance at this.”

“Got it. Let’s do this.”

Peter didn’t sleep well that night, even with Daken’s warmth at his side. His brain kept overthinking, and he was scared things weren’t going to go as planned when they finally got to Otto’s base. But he trusted Daken, and Daken seemed confident, so Peter forced himself to relax. To make up for his lack of sleep, he took a power nap the next day. All too soon, they had to suit up and get going. Peter had spent hours figuring out the quickest and easiest way to get into the warehouse, and that meant going in through a very small window that opened into the basement. The basement was just for storage, so they ran into no problems.

On the next floor, Peter crept ahead and alerted Daken to the enemies they faced. Daken took them out. Otto’s lab/office was on the second floor. That’s where Peter expected him to be. They got through the first floor with ease. Once on the second floor, Peter tensed up. His Spider-Sense briefly reactivated, but it was gone as quick as it came.

“Something’s wrong,” Peter hissed, reaching out and gripping Daken’s hand.

Then Otto himself walked around the corner and punched Peter right in the gut with a metal arm. Peter went flying and slammed into a wall. He heard the sound of Daken’s fist connecting with something solid, but his vision got blurry and he couldn’t focus. When he finally did, it was on the sight of Daken getting tossed  _ through _ a wall. Peter lunged forward, pulling out his daggers and slicing cleanly through the arm that came at him. He couldn’t bounce off the walls without exposing his other identity, but he could still use his agility. He spun around Otto’s blows and stabbed through a second arm, just in time for Daken to reappear and punch Otto in the face. Peter ripped his dagger out, effectively severing most of the arm’s wiring and rendering it useless. Daken grabbed ahold of a third arm and ripped it off bare-handed, snarling as he did so. Peter stumbled on the spot and wondered what else Daken could do with all that strength, then refocused and finished off the last arm. After that, it was only a matter of time before Daken made a move.

“This isn’t personal,” Daken whispered, then snapped Otto’s neck.

Peter froze. “Holy shit. We just did that.”

Daken looked up at him as he slowly let Otto down. “Yeah. We did.”

Peter grinned. “I am getting  _ laid _ tonight.”

Daken laughed. “Sure thing. Let’s get out of here.”

They sprinted out of the building. Sirens wailed in the distance, but the two mercenaries were long gone by the time the police arrived. They were high on adrenaline and the thrill of a job well done, and the rest of the night was a blur of celebratory drinks and sex. Peter woke up with a pounding headache, but he still felt like he was floating. The duffel bag full of money Daken threw on top of him just made him even happier.

“There’s our pay,” Daken said with a smirk.

“Good morning to you too,” Peter replied, pulling out a stack of tens and grinning, “I can’t believe that wasn’t a dream.”

Daken sat down. “We really did that. One down, two to go.”

Peter beamed. “This doesn’t seem so hard anymore.”

“You did amazing last night,” Daken commented, moving the duffel bag and lying on top of Peter, nuzzling up against Peter’s neck, “I’ve never seen you fight Otto so efficiently before.”

“Normally, the aim is to  _ not _ kill him,” Peter pointed out, running one hand through Daken’s thick hair, “Plus I have to worry about civilians and property damage.”

“Makes sense,” Daken mumbled, “What do you want to do today?”

“I’m going on patrol,” Peter answered, “And  _ you _ are gonna find us another job.”

Daken lifted up his head and made a face. “We deserve a day off after that.”

Peter snorted. “Alright, fine. Do you wanna go on a date?”

Daken grinned. “Yeah. Where do you want to go?”

Peter shrugged. “Surprise me.”

They started at Starbucks, which Peter appreciated. Then they went to Coney Island. They rode the Wonder Wheel, got ice cream, and ran around the beach together. They got covered in sand from the amount of times they tackled each other, but they were too happy to care. For lunch, they went and got pizza. Then Peter suited up and showed Daken the thrill that was swinging at breakneck speeds through the city. Daken didn’t scream until they crossed the Brooklyn Bridge, but he calmed down once they were back among skyscrapers. Peter landed to make sure he was okay.

“That’s fucking terrifying,” Daken panted, “How do you do that?”

Peter laughed. “I’m just used to it, I guess. It’s fun! How do you think it’s scary?”

Daken gaped at him. “ _ How do I think it’s scary?! _ One false move and we could’ve died! It’s awful!”

Peter shook his head. “You’re just a pussy.”

“Uncalled for,” Daken retorted, shaking his head, “I’m very insulted.”

Peter snorted. “Sure, sure.”

Daken suddenly tensed up. “Hey, maybe we should get out of here.”

He pointed to the northeast, where a glowing figure was carving a path through the clouds. It was Johnny in all his glory, and it took Peter’s breath away for the millionth time.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Peter agreed, “Home?”

“Sure,” Daken replied, kissing him softly before climbing on his back.

They swung home and both took a nap. It was a good day.

They spent the next few weeks picking up small jobs and filling their pockets with easy cash. But eventually, they had to pick up a big job. And to prove that they were mercenaries, not just vigilantes, Daken chose a job with such high stakes and huge consequences that Peter wasn’t even sure they would be able to pull it off.

They were going to kill Steve Rogers.

Captain America was an icon. He was well-loved by most of the American people. He was a big deal. If Peter and Daken could pull it off, his death would be mourned by the whole country. And it would definitely get Kingpin’s attention. They had one shot at it, and if they screwed it up they were dead. Luckily, they had a ticket into the Avengers Compound. Spider-Man. Peter and the Avengers didn’t get along well (the hatred went both ways), but Peter had been offered a place to stay if he was ever in a tight spot. So Peter planned on using that. The hard part was coming up with a believable story.

“How about this?” Daken suggested over their supper of ramen noodles, “I’ll stab you.”

Peter frowned at his noodles. “They’re gonna ask why I didn’t just go to the Four.”

“Okay, uh… I’ll stab you and you say you didn’t want to go to the Four because they would freak out too much.”

Peter chewed thoughtfully. “Eh, better. Keep trying.”

“You were in the area?” Daken tried.

Peter gave him a look. “Yeah, that’s not gonna cut it. Try again.”

“You have to contribute too!” Daken complained.

“Are you high?” Peter asked bluntly, “These ideas are shit.”

Daken smirked. “Only a little.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Fuckass.”

Daken snorted. “Wow, red. Real creative.”

“I could say I wanted help finding out who killed Otto,” Peter said, “They have lots of resources.”

“It’s the same issue, though,” Daken pointed out, “You could just ask the Four.”

Peter frowned. “They’re going on a research trip next week, I think. We’ll just do it then.”

“A trip where?” Daken questioned.

“Space somewhere,” Peter replied offhandedly.

Daken laughed. “They’re gonna come home to a big surprise!”

“That’s for sure,” Peter agreed with a grin.

“Did they ever talk to you about Otto?” Daken asked, “The Four, I mean.”

Peter nodded. “Yeah. I just kind of faked being in shock and Sue talked to me about the loss of big characters in our lives and how it affects our psyche. I didn’t really pay attention. Then Johnny took me to Delmar’s and bought me a sandwich. Wasn’t really a huge deal.”

Daken hummed thoughtfully. “That’s good. Just keep bullshitting and we’ll be fine.”

One week later, Peter pulled up to the Avengers Compound in a stolen car. He strutted up to the front door and rang the doorbell, not that it mattered. FRIDAY would probably alert whoever was home that he was there.

“Look who it is,” Tony Stark droned when he opened the door, “The city’s favorite insect.”

“Arachnid, actually,” Peter said coolly, “I need your help.”

Tony arched one eyebrow. “Go ask the Four.”

“They’re in space,” Peter deadpanned, “Besides, this is something I don’t want them to know about.”

“You better come in, then.”

Peter followed Tony through the building. They finally entered a living room/kitchen area. Relaxing around the room were Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Sam Wilson, and none other than Steve Rogers himself. Bingo.

“Sit down, kid,” Tony instructed, “What exactly is your problem?”

“I want to know who killed Otto Octavius,” Peter said simply, refusing to sit, “Everyone knows it was those new ‘lantes, but I want to know their names. You have the resources for that. So I’m politely asking for your help.”

“Can’t you just do it yourself?” Clint spoke up, “You’re a boss at getting in other people’s business.”

Peter tensed up. “Yeah, I could, but it would take a long time. And like I told Stark, I don’t want the Four to know. I need to get this done before they get back from space.”

“Why don’t you want them to know?” Natasha questioned.

“Sue’s concerned about my mental health,” Peter replied, which was partially true, “She thinks Otto’s death is having a bad effect on me. This would prove her point.”

“What exactly do you plan on doing to the vigilantes that killed him?” Steve asked.

“Give them a high-five and five bucks,” Peter drawled, “It’s none of your business.”

“We can help you, but on one condition,” Tony said, “You do  _ us _ a favor.”

Peter’s eyes narrowed. “Which would be?”

“Just a little publicity thing,” Tony soothed him, “About how you totally support us.”

Peter gritted his teeth. He would rather do anything but that.

“Just accept it, red,” Daken said in his ear. Peter nearly flinched. He’d forgotten about his coms.

“Fine,” Peter snapped, “But I want that info first.”

“Fine by me,” Tony said agreeably, “I’ll go work on it right away. You can either hang out here or come back in a few hours.”

He hung out there. Then he said he was going to go find the bathroom, but instead he found the power generator and tore out a few wires. As soon as the power went out, he signaled Daken. They met in the actual bathroom, where Peter hurriedly slipped into his mercenary outfit and strapped on his daggers. After that, it was just the task of finding Steve. That was easier than expected. They ran right into him in the hallway.

“Boo,” Daken greeted, his energy claws crackling to life.

Steve put up a fight. He really did. But in the end, it was all too easy for Peter to pin him down as Daken shoved Peter’s daggers through his eyes and deep into his skull. The rich smell of blood made Peter gag. They abandoned the body as soon as they could. Peter switched costumes again, and Daken took off. The rest was all on Peter.

“Where is everyone?” he called as he returned to the living room, “Hello?”

There was a loud scream. That would be Wanda finding Steve’s body. Whoops. Peter followed the noise. As the Avengers freaked out and cried, Peter put his acting skills to the test. But as soon as he found the opportunity (Sam yelling at him to stay out of it), he left. He met back up with Daken at home.

“Do they suspect anything?” Daken asked as soon as he arrived.

Peter shook his head. “As of right now, no. We’ll be fine.”

Daken breathed a sigh of relief. “Perfect. This should be on the news by tomorrow. I’ll collect the money then.”

“We fucking did that,” Peter said with a grin, “We killed Captain America.”

Daken smirked. “It’s what he deserved.”

The next few days were a wild ride. The world mourned, and Peter got absolutely zero questions from the Avengers. He only wished they could’ve gotten rid of all of them. Then the Four got back home. When they learned about Steve’s death, they were speechless. And they were  _ afraid _ . That was what really hit Peter. They were scared of “Claws and Fangs”. They had no idea if they would be one of their targets. Peter wished he could tell them that they weren’t. It just wasn’t that simple. So he reassured him as best as he could, and he began to realize he was in way over his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I killed off Steve Rogers... Whoops? I just feel like Daken would have zero respect for him, plus it made a good plot point. So he's dead.


	5. Chapter 5

Things would have been much easier if Kingpin had contacted Peter and Daken after they had killed Rogers. But they didn’t hear anything. So they kept taking small jobs and waiting for the next big thing to catch the man’s attention. In the meantime, Peter found it increasingly difficult to lie to the Four. He’d already broken Johnny’s heart by saying that he hadn’t been thinking straight when he’d kissed him. And Johnny had believed it because they’d both been drunk. Peter felt awful about it, but he couldn’t exactly date Johnny while he was sleeping with Daken. They stayed friends, of course, it was just with a certain tense energy. Thankfully, the other three didn’t seem upset with Peter for it. After all, they were still family.

Peter was lounging in the Fantasti-car one night, “helping” the Four patrol around the city, when Daken called him. He was sitting right between Sue and Johnny, but he picked it up anyway.

“I need you to keep the Four distracted for a while,” Daken said, “I picked up a small job in Manhattan. It’s gonna be a mess.”

“Alright. I’ll do what I can. Stay safe.”

“See you at home. Bye.”

“Who was that?” Sue asked when Peter hung up.

“Coworker,” Peter replied, “Hey, can we go back to the Tower? I’m not feeling very good.”

It was too late, though. Daken had apparently waited to call until last minute, because the police radio the Four had went off and reported gunshots at a high-end restaurant.

“Right after this,” Reed said as Ben turned the Fantasti-car around.

_ Well fuck. _

They arrived at the scene. Daken was beating the shit out of apparent criminals. Peter rolled up his mask and mouthed an apology behind the backs of the Four.

“Let the guy go,” Sue said as Daken hauled up a man by the collar.

Daken snapped his neck. Peter almost laughed. Almost.

“You can’t take us all,” Johnny said coolly, “Stand down.”

“In your dreams,” Daken retorted.

Reed’s fist came out of nowhere and nailed Daken in the face. Peter winced sympathetically. He stayed back as Daken fought off the Four, but he couldn’t just do nothing while Daken got beaten up. So when Ben threw Daken down on the ground, Peter slammed into his rocky body and sent him hurtling across the room.

“Sorry!” Peter squeaked, diving back toward Daken just in time to deflect a punch from Sue.

“What are you doing?!” Sue exclaimed.

Peter kicked Reed’s arm away from Daken. He grabbed ahold of the woozy man and hauled him to his feet, shuffling away from the Four.

“Spides, what the hell?” Johnny said.

“I’m sorry,” Peter apologized, “I’ll explain everything later.”

“Who is he?” Sue demanded, “Why are you protecting him?”

Reed’s arm came out of nowhere and yanked Daken’s hood down. Daken blinked blearily at him and unhooked his mouth cover himself. He wiped blood off his face and grinned.

“Surprise,” Daken managed to wheeze.

“Great, you dumb fuck,” Peter complained, “Now they’re gonna follow us.”

He picked Daken up and sprinted out of the restaurant, vaulting a parked car and swinging up onto a lamppost. That gave him enough momentum to swing higher in the air and start webslinging between skyscrapers. He went as fast as he could, but the extra weight made it hard. Thankfully, he knew shortcuts and ways to lose the Four. As soon as he was sure they were safe, he landed on a rooftop and leaned Daken up against the lip of the roof.

“Are you okay?” Peter asked worriedly, pushing Daken’s hair out of his face.

Daken nodded tiredly. “Grimm hits hard.”

Peter smiled sympathetically. “I know. But what the  _ hell _ were you thinking?”

Now that he was sure Daken was okay, he was mad. Daken had given him barely any warning to distract the Four. And then, in order to make sure Daken didn’t get sent to the Raft, Peter had been forced to fight the Four and reveal he was helping a mercenary.

“I told you to keep them away,” Daken snapped, but there wasn’t enough anger behind it to deter Peter.

“You gave me a minute of warning!” Peter yelled, “How was I supposed to get them away in that little amount of time?”

Daken winced. “I was going to wait, I swear. But then the guys started leaving and I had to act.”

Peter started pacing. “What the fuck am I supposed to do, Day? They know who you are and they know that I’m helping you. How can I explain that?”

“Just say you found me and Fangs after we killed Otto. And you decided you owed them a favor. Now it’s done and you’ll stop helping us.”

Peter snorted. “They’re not stupid. They’re gonna connect the dots. Or at least realize I’ve been helping you from the beginning.”

“Then say that you made a deal with us,” Daken suggested, “We promised to kill some of your bigger villains if you protected us.”

Peter stopped pacing. “That’ll work. At least it should.”

Daken got to his feet. “Relax. They’re not gonna figure out anything we don’t want them to.”

Peter took off his mask and ran his hands through his hair. “They better not.”

“Trust me, red,” Daken soothed, “It’ll be fine.”

He leaned his forehead against Peter’s and pulled him close, his lips barely brushing Peter’s. Peter exhaled softly and closed his eyes, Daken’s warmth providing a source of reassurance. Peter kissed him first, and Daken kissed back with surprising softness.

“You wanna go home?” Peter asked quietly, “I’ll deal with the Four in the morning.”

“Yeah, sure,” Daken replied.

The next morning, Peter swung to the Four’s Tower with nervousness so bad he thought he might puke. Johnny had a broken window that Peter had been prying open since he was sixteen, so Peter used that to get in. Johnny wasn’t in his room, so Peter walked out into the living room and leaned in the doorway. The Four didn’t notice him at first, too busy eating breakfast and watching the morning news, but eventually Sue looked up and made a noise of surprise.

“Hi,” Peter said softly, “I figure I have some explaining to do.”

“Sit down,” Reed replied, “We won’t get mad unless you have a really horrible excuse for helping someone who tried to kill us.”

Peter winced but sat down. “Well, for starters, I’ve been helping Daken and his partner for a long time.”

“We figured,” Sue said coldly.

“They approached me,” Peter lied, “They wanted my protection from superheroes like you guys, and in return they promised to get rid of some of my bigger villains. Like Otto.”

“And you agreed?” Johnny asked incredulously, “That’s not like you, Peter. You have tallies for every single person that’s ever died on your watch, for God’s sake.”

“Daken can be very… persuasive,” Peter replied, “It was either I agreed or he killed me. Besides, I got some good stuff out of it. A free place to stay, free food…”

He trailed off and stared hard at the wall. He wanted to cry. He hated lying to the Four. They were family, after all. But he had to keep going, or everything would be ruined.

Ben shook his head. “You could have fought him.”

“I did,” Peter choked out, “His claws have been inches from my throat and buried in my stomach. I  _ lost _ .”

Johnny blinked with surprise. “You never lose fights.”

“Well, I clearly did,” Peter snapped, “I still have the scars.”

“Is he hurting you?” Sue asked gently.

“No, he’s not,” Peter reassured her, “It’s kind of a mutual respect thing at this point.”

“You  _ respect _ him?” Reed questioned.

Peter sighed. “Yeah, I do. I know he’s done some horrible things to us. But I’ve also thrown him into an electric generator and broken both his legs. He could’ve died from that.”

Johnny shook his head. “I can’t even believe you right now. Are you fucking insane? You can’t trust Daken. He’s a psychopath.”

“He’s not,” Peter argued, “He’s not a horrible person. I should know, cause I live with him.”

“Damn. You really are insane,” Johnny said, leaning away from Peter, “Get out.”

“Johnny-” Sue began.

“No. Get the fuck out,” Johnny snapped, “Before I turn you into a pile of charred bones.”

Peter’s eyes widened with hurt. “I’m sorry-”

“Shut up. Just shut up and get out.”

Peter retreated like a hurt puppy. He started crying as soon as he was out of the building. He climbed all the way to the top of the Empire State Building and broke down, choking on thin air and his own tears. The wind whistling past him chilled him to the bones, but he didn’t leave until he couldn’t feel his fingers and toes. He didn’t want to go home and face Daken, so instead he went on patrol. He broke a car thief’s arm and nearly killed some bank robbers, too busy dissociating with the world to notice he was being so brutal. He swung home after that.

“How did it-” Daken started, then noticed the look on Peter’s face.

“Johnny hates me,” Peter stated bluntly, “And I want you to fuck me right now so I can forget about it.”

Daken frowned. “C’mon, red, you don’t mean that. And I’m sure he doesn’t actually hate you.”

“He told me to get the fuck out and that if I didn’t he would light me on fire,” Peter said, “And he thinks I’m insane. So yeah, I’m pretty sure he hates me.”

Daken’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

“Now we can do one of three things,” Peter continued, “Fuck, get blackout drunk, or go kill some people. Which do you prefer?”

Daken shook his head. “You’re not thinking straight, red. You need to calm down.”

Peter started shaking. “I don’t need you for two of those three things, Day. I’d just prefer if you were there.”

Daken sighed. “Fine. There’s this pedo I’ve had my eye on for a while. I’ll let you do the job.”

Peter clenched his jaw. “Be ready in five minutes.”

They only went a few blocks away, to a playground that children usually frequented. There was a middle-aged woman sitting on a bench. To the casual observer, she was a mother watching her kids. But Daken, who liked to take walks around the neighborhood, had watched her enough to know that she had no kids. He’d done some digging and discovered that she was a felon and had child pornography in her home. Peter and Daken followed her home in Daken’s car. It was all too easy to break into her apartment. She screamed until Peter ripped out her vocal cords, and then he just observed the terror in her eyes as he sunk his daggers into her heart. He left the child pornography out for the police to find. Then they went home. Peter tried to convince Daken to fuck him, but Daken used brute strength to force Peter into watching Star Wars instead. That made Peter feel a bit better.

“In the end, this will all be worth it,” Daken pointed out as they watched Anakin slowly become Darth Vader, “As soon as Kingpin is gone, you can fix things with the Four. And I have good news.”

Peter raised his eyebrows. “What’s the news?”

“Someone wants Osborn dead, and we’re going to a gala this weekend,” Daken said with a grin, “I can’t wait to see the looks on the guests’ faces.”

That weekend, Peter got dressed up nicely in a suit and tie so he could scope out the gala. Daken was waiting on the roof for his signal. But as soon as Peter got inside, he realized they’d made a big mistake.

“Were you aware that the Avengers and the Four are here?” Peter squeaked.

“You’re joking,” Daken said, horror in his tone, “All of them?”

“At least half of the Avengers,” Peter replied, “They already want us dead, Day. What the hell are we supposed to do?”

“We’ve gotta go through with this,” Daken insisted, “It’ll be fine. We’re in, we’re out, and if necessary we knock a few of them out. Just stay away from the Four and it’ll be fine.”

Peter grimaced. “Alright. I’ll tell you when Osborn starts preparing for his speech.”

He wove his way through the crowd and checked out where all the security guards were. He grabbed a glass of champagne to look less suspicious. When Osborn started making his way towards the stage, Peter signaled Daken and quickly exited. He ditched the suit and traded it for his merc suit, then used the vents to make his way up into the rafters. He walked lightly across them until he was in the middle of the room. Osborn started his speech, but Peter was more focused on Daken lurking behind the curtains. Daken suddenly moved, energy claws out and prepared to strike. But Natasha Romanoff, ever the observant spy, pulled out a gun faster than Peter could even see and fired at Daken. Daken stumbled back, blood splattering the floor, and Osborn leapt off the stage. The crowd, minus the superheroes, all ran. Osborn ran with them, but Peter jumped from the rafters and landed in front of him.

“This isn’t personal,” Peter said coolly, spinning his daggers as he approached.

He deflected bullets from Natasha and Osborn’s security, then grabbed the man, spun him around, and pressed one dagger into his throat. He pushed harder and swiped it across like a credit card, and blood spurted out and Osborn collapsed. He could hear Daken fighting behind him, but he was more focused on their escape. It was currently blocked by several superheroes, the Four among them.

“Drop the swords,” Tony instructed, “Let’s be civil about this.”

“Go fuck yourself,” Peter retorted.

Tony sighed. “Alright then. We’re doing this the hard way.”

Daken approached from behind, one hand pressed against his gunshot wound to stop the flow of blood. He was tense, but the wound was healing. They just needed a bit more time.

“Did you ever figure out that we killed Rogers?” Peter asked, “Or did you miss that bit of information?”

The Avengers all tensed up and glared. That had struck a nerve.

“As a matter of fact, we did,” Natasha snapped, “And you’re going to pay for it.”

Peter snorted. “We’ll see about that.”

“One question before we get started,” Johnny spoke up, “My best friend ruined his life to help you two. I just want to hear why from you.”

“He didn’t really have a choice,” Daken replied, “But you still hate him for it. I hope you know he cried over you for  _ hours _ , Storm.”

Guilt flashed in Johnny’s eyes. Even Sue winced.

“If you make it out of here, tell him I’m sorry,” Johnny said.

“Tell him yourself,” Daken growled.

His energy claws surged to life. Peter’s grip on his daggers tightened. He moved first, slamming into Natasha and sending them both rolling. She was a skilled fighter, but he used brute strength and knocked her out. Daken had already taken care of Clint and was working on Tony and Rhodey. Peter focused on the Four. His biggest concern was Sue and Reed, knowing Johnny would hold back simply because he was confused about Peter’s involvement with Daken and Fangs. Ben would be easy enough to at least hold off. He swung a dagger straight at Sue’s throat and was relieved when she threw up a force field. He’d been counting on that. All he wanted to do was ward them off long enough to escape. He knocked Reed’s arms aside and tackled Johnny, wrapping his legs around the taller man’s waist and flipping them so Johnny slammed into the floor and Peter was in control. Johnny grabbed at his hood and Peter twisted away from him, rolling to the side and quickly adjusting it. Ben surged forward, sensing Peter’s vulnerability, and picked him up like he was a rag doll. He flipped Peter upside down and Peter lashed out with his daggers, slicing cleanly through rock and causing Ben actual pain. Ben dropped him, and Peter rolled away.

“Red, let’s go!” Daken shouted, having knocked out Tony and Rhodey, “Run!”

Peter got to his feet and ran, strapping his daggers down as he did so. He was faster than Daken, but he kept pace with him to make sure he made it out. Unfortunately, Johnny was faster than both of them when flying. He blocked their exit with fire. Peter and Daken slammed to a halt.

“You have to let us go,” Peter insisted, “You don’t understand what we’re trying to do here.”

“I don’t have to,” Johnny snapped, “You’ve killed enough people for me to realize you’re bad guys.”

“The more accurate word is mercenaries,” Daken retorted, “Come on, Storm, don’t you want to get back in Peter’s good graces?”

The fire went out. Johnny’s eyes briefly glazed over. He blinked with confusion. Daken sprinted forward and slammed Johnny’s head into the doorway. Peter ran after him. He’d never climbed onto the back of Daken’s motorcycle so fast before. But then they were away, and safe, and Peter laughed hysterically.

“That was a shitshow,” he said in Daken’s ear, “How’d you get Johnny to do that?”

“Little power of mine,” Daken replied, “Pheromones. They usually don’t work very long.”

Peter didn’t ask any other questions. He was suddenly tired, and he couldn’t wait to get home and fall asleep.

“We’re almost done,” he mumbled in Daken’s ear as the older man carried him to their bed, “Kingpin  _ has _ to notice us after this.”

Daken hummed. “Damn right. Sleep well, red. I love you.”

That was the last thing Peter heard before he completely fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some things to talk about! First of all, the Four know about Peter helping Daken. And they're obviously pissed, especially Johnny. Daken's hurt them in the past and they think he's crazy, and they never thought Peter would help him. Not a good time.  
> Second of all, Peter now knows about Daken's pheromones and witnessed them being that used. Will that change anything? You'll find out soon lmao.  
> And finally, Daken said I love you to Peter! One thing I wanted to make clear early on was that Daken actually does care about Peter, in a twisted sort of way. He likes him a lot. So I thought I'd communicate that.  
> And that's that! Thanks for reading! -Spides


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to update yesterday whoops. Here you go. Next update will be on Saturday.

Peter woke up in a surprisingly good mood. Especially when he remembered what Daken had said before he’d fallen asleep.  _ I love you. _ Peter turned on his side to stare at the sleeping man’s face and smiled. He woke him up by kissing him and was pleased by the tired but fond smile Daken gave him.

“Good morning,” Peter greeted, “How’d you sleep?”

Daken yawned. “Always good with you here, red.”

Peter smiled at him. “Stay put. I’ll make breakfast for once.”

He made them pancakes and carried them to their bed, sharing the plate with Daken. They ate in comfortable silence, both tired but satisfied after finishing a difficult job. Peter leaned against Daken when they were done eating, sighing contentedly and relaxing. Daken wrapped his arms around Peter and kissed the top of his head.

“I love you too,” Peter spoke up suddenly, his voice quiet.

“I didn’t know you heard that,” Daken admitted.

“I did,” Peter confirmed, “I wasn’t asleep yet.”

“I’m glad you feel the same,” Daken said, kissing Peter’s cheek, “Now I’ve got a request.”

“What would that be?” Peter questioned.

Daken’s lips brushed Peter’s ear as he spoke. “I’d love to dedicate an hour to rearranging your guts.”

Peter laughed. “You know what, let’s do it.”

An hour later, Peter was thoroughly exhausted and in need of a nap. So that’s what he did. When he woke up, it was to Daken standing over him with a huge grin on his face. Peter squinted up at him.

“I have very good news,” Daken informed him.

“Then spit it out,” Peter replied, “What’s up?”

“So I went to collect our money for killing Osborn, right? And on my way home, I ran into Tombstone. Kingpin was very impressed with how we handled the Avengers. We’re in. We have a meeting tomorrow night.”

Peter grinned. “Hell yeah. This should be easy.”

“Well, hopefully,” Daken remarked, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“Since I’m up, I’m gonna go on patrol,” Peter said, standing up and stretching, “I’ll be back later tonight.”

“Be careful,” Daken advised him, kissing him softly, “Maybe avoid the Four for a while.”

That turned out to be impossible. Peter was swinging along, minding his own business and blasting Chocolate by The 1975 in the AirPods Daken had bought him, when he heard the familiar hum of the Fantasti-car and it pulled up beside him. Ben was driving, as usual, but the only other occupant was Sue. Peter swung up and landed on top of it, assuming they wanted to talk to him. Sure enough, they landed on the Tower. And as soon as they did, Sue grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him inside. Peter stumbled after her, unsure what was happening but accepting that he was probably about to get screamed at. She practically threw him down on the couch.

“Take the mask off,” she commanded, “I want to see your face.”

Peter was confused but did as he was told. “What’s going on?”

“Do you know what your friends did last night?” Sue demanded angrily, “I’m assuming they were only going to kill Norman, but they did a bit more than that. Tony Stark died from his injuries an hour ago. And Natasha Romanoff is in a coma.”

Peter gaped at her and forced himself not to laugh. He was  _ glad _ Stark was dead. Natasha had always been a bitch to him, but he was slightly sorry about putting her in a coma.

“As well as that, Fangs would’ve decapitated Sue if it weren’t for her powers,” Reed spoke up, “He also did a bit of damage to Ben.”

Peter zoned out as Sue lectured him about being involved with Daken and Fangs, busy thinking about Daken whispering “that’s my baby” in his ear while they’d been fucking. Which then turned to the thought of Daken’s chains dangling in his face and him tugging on Peter’s hair. And how he’d pushed Peter’s hips down into the bed. All very pure thoughts. He tuned back in when Sue stopped yelling.

“They wouldn’t have killed you,” Peter said calmly, “Fangs was counting on you using a shield, Sue. They tell me things, you know. But I can promise you that none of us knew about Stark or Natasha.”

Sue shook her head. “You say that with such calm confidence. You weren’t there, Peter. Fangs is feral.”

Peter shrugged. “Maybe he is. But he knows that if he killed any of you, I’d rip out his throat.”

Johnny snorted. “You’d never kill anyone.”

Peter arched one eyebrow at him. “If they hurt you? Yes, I would.”

Johnny blinked with surprise.

“So what did you do about this?” Ben asked, gesturing to the chunks of rock missing from his arm.

“Fangs panicked,” Peter pointed out, “What else was he supposed to do? Let you break his ribs? He’s not like Daken. He heals, just not as fast.”

Ben frowned. “He started it.”

“So he could escape,” Peter replied, “That’s all that was. Sure, they were a bit too brutal, but they’re both not too keen on being thrown in the Raft.”

“Then maybe they shouldn’t have chosen the mercenary life,” Reed remarked.

Peter sighed heavily. “I guess it’s finally time I let you in on a little secret.”

Sue crossed her arms. “Please do.”

“They’re doing this to impress Kingpin,” Peter explained, “So they can get into his gang and expose him. And it worked. They’ve got a meeting with him tomorrow.”

Sue looked surprised. “Daken normally doesn’t work for the greater good.”

Peter shrugged. “Kingpin rules the criminal underworld. He probably just wants more freedom.”

Peter had never actually asked why Daken wanted Kingpin dead, but at that point he didn’t really care.

“You’re going down a bad path, Peter,” Reed warned with a shake of his head and a disappointed look, “I hate to have to watch this.”

“Then don’t,” Peter said coolly, standing up and backing towards an open window, “I can leave. Got some things to do. Daken fucked me this morning, but I’m thinking now would be a  _ great _ time to go home for round two.”

The last things he heard and saw before tugging on his mask and flipping backwards out the window was Sue yelling “what the  _ fuck?! _ ” and the sudden jealousy that burned in Johnny’s eyes. Peter no longer cared what they thought of him. So he swung home, smoked some of Daken’s weed, and fell fast asleep.

The next day was stressful. If there was one super villain Peter was genuinely scared of, it was Kingpin. But he and Daken were going to meet him in the hopes of joining his gang. His only reassurance was the fact that Daken would be there to protect him if things went horribly wrong. That only eased his mind to a certain extent, though. He smoked weed again to calm himself down. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t tried it before. It dialed down his senses to a more human level. He hadn’t felt that in years.

“I feel like I should be concerned, but you look like you’re vibing so I’m not gonna complain,” Daken commented as they got ready to go.

Peter gave him two thumbs up. “I am higher than the fucking  _ moon _ right now.”

Daken laughed. “I think I might be a bad influence.”

Peter smiled lopsidedly. “Good.”

“Let’s go meet a super villain!”

Fisk Tower had always made Peter nervous. Even with weed in his system, the vibe the building gave off made him uneasy. But he shouldered on, knowing everything would be over soon. Still, as soon as they walked into Kingpin’s office his whole body got cold. Kingpin was intimidating, and even high Peter couldn’t handle  _ not _ defending himself. Somehow, he managed to not show his fear. He and Daken just sat down and sprawled across their chairs with the casual confidence the criminal community had come to expect from them.

“It’s nice to finally meet the both of you,” Kingpin said politely, “I’ve had an eye on you two ever since you killed Otto Octavius, and since then I’ve heard many good things. Your performance the other night at Norman Osborn’s gala was especially impressive.”

“Thank you, Mr. Fisk,” Daken replied, “Not to be rude, but we want to know  _ why _ you wanted to meet us. It can’t just be because you wanted to compliment our work.”

Kingpin smiled. “Getting right to business. I like it. To put it simply, I want to hire you both. I think your skills could greatly benefit me.”

“What do we get out of it?” Peter questioned.

“Assurance that you’ll stay in business,” Kingpin replied casually (that was definitely a death threat), “And a hefty paycheck. I’m talking thousands a  _ week _ .”

“Sounds pretty nice,” Daken said coolly, “What’s the catch?”

Kingpin sighed. “I hate to put such a large task before you, but I believe the two of you have the best chance of pulling it off. I need the Fantastic Four out of the picture. I don’t care if it’s a mysterious disappearance or a public execution, I just need it done.”

“It’s a deal,” Daken responded before Peter could object, “We’ll get it done.”

Kingpin beamed. “That’s good to hear. Tombstone will be in contact.”

“We are  _ not _ killing the Four,” Peter said as soon as they were out of Fisk Tower and safely in their car.

“No, we’re not,” Daken agreed, “I would never make you do that. What we’re going to do is kidnap them.”

Peter stared at him like he was insane, even though Daken couldn’t see it under his hood. “ _ What?! _ ”

“As long as they’re out of commission, Kingpin will believe they’re dead,” Daken pointed out, “Besides, I recorded that whole conversation. It’s probably enough proof, but we need more. Like him admitting other things he’s done.”

“What’s the point?” Peter asked, “We’re killing him no matter what.”

“Yeah, but it’ll make our lives a bit easier when he’s actually dead,” Daken replied, “People were almost supportive when we got rid of Otto and Osborn. They might not hate us as much if there’s solid proof that Kingpin is a criminal.”

Peter frowned. “I guess. I don’t like this, though.”

Daken sighed. “I know. I don’t either. My feelings toward the Four are complicated. They were good to me once. You know that. I was just tired and angry at the world and, well-”

“On drugs?” Peter inserted.

Daken sighed again. “Yeah. The Heat really fucked me up. It was killing me. Reed tried to help, but I didn’t want it. I  _ wanted _ to die. And I hated the superheroes in this city. So I blew up the Four’s Tower and part of the Avengers Compound. At the time, I was mad that none of them died. Now, though? I don’t think it was worth it.”

Peter nodded understandingly. “It wasn’t entirely your fault.”

Daken shrugged. “Maybe it was.”

The rest of their drive home was quiet. Daken seemed lost in thought, and Peter was still trying to process what they were going to have to do. He already had a few ideas, none of which he wanted to go through with. He felt almost as if his own conflicted feelings were reflected in Daken. Or maybe it was the other way around. He wasn’t quite sure. But a wall had come down between them, he was sure of it.

“I used to hate you,” Daken whispered as they were falling asleep that night, “Now I can’t imagine a time when I didn’t love you.”

Peter hummed softly. “I love you too.”

“I just want you to know that I’ll always take care of you,” Daken continued, running one hand up and down Peter’s thigh, “You mean the world to me, red.”

Peter pressed a soft kiss to his boyfriend’s forehead. “I know. Get some sleep, okay? We’ve got a lot of work to do tomorrow.”

Peter was pretty fucking sure that without his wealth of knowledge concerning the Fantastic Four, he and Daken wouldn’t be able to get into the Tower to kidnap them. Kill them, maybe. But kidnapping wouldn’t be possible without Peter. He knew the Tower almost as well as he knew his own apartment. And, most importantly, he knew the Four. He knew their routines. That made making a plan easy. Of course, it took them some time to get everything they needed for the mission. Getting access to  _ one _ power suppressing collar was difficult enough, but four was almost impossible. Thankfully, Daken had connections. So they got the collars. Then they just had to go through with their plan.

They did it on a Wednesday night. The middle of the week meant that the Four would all be home and hopefully in bed. But they waited until a little past midnight to make sure that they were actually asleep. Then Peter gave Daken a piggy-back ride and climbed up to Johnny’s broken window. He pried it open and crawled inside, lightly setting Daken down. Daken passed Peter one of the collars and Peter crept over to Johnny’s bed. The older man was fast asleep, and he didn’t wake up until the collar was secured firmly around his neck. Peter slapped a hand over his mouth to stop him from screaming. Daken shoved a bandana into his mouth and tied it tightly, then hauled Johnny up and shoved him towards the door. Johnny fought back so hard Daken finally just knocked him out. He threw the blond over one shoulder and passed two collars to Peter. They split up.

Peter went to Sue and Reed’s room. They were fast asleep, and Peter paused for a moment as he assessed which one would be more dangerous if they woke up before he could put a collar on them. He decided on Sue and went to her side of the bed. He put the collar around her neck and gagged her. She woke up and started thrashing, which woke up Reed, but Peter quickly put the second collar around his neck. He knocked them both out and gagged Reed for good measure. Then he dragged them both out to the living room. Daken was already there with Johnny and Ben. Ben was in human form, which was an interesting sight. Although Ben had the ability to revert to a human appearance, he rarely did so. Peter hadn’t seen him like that in ages.

“Either you tell me how to launch that ship, or Fangs is going to slice open Reed’s throat,” Daken was threatening Ben as Peter let Sue and Reed’s bodies hit the floor.

Ben glared at Daken. “Go to hell.”

Peter drew a dagger. “Answer his question.”

“Fine,” Ben grunted.

He carefully listed the instructions and how to punch in coordinates. Daken put Peter in charge of launching the ship. Their plan was to send it to space as if the Four were onboard, and then just never have it return. It would be a waste once Kingpin was dead, but neither Daken nor Peter cared. So Peter skipped to the floor it was on, put in coordinates deep in Kree territory (he knew a thing or two about space from listening to the Four’s conversations), and launched the ship. Once that was done, he went back to the living room.

“Take Ben and Johnny first,” Daken instructed, “They’re the heaviest.”

Peter threw one over each shoulder and swung down to the truck they’d stolen. He threw the two men in the back and returned for Sue and Reed. Then he went back for Daken.

“Mission accomplished,” he said as they drove away, “How do you feel?”

Daken shrugged. “I won’t feel accomplished until we’re home.”

Peter hummed in agreement. Thankfully, they got home and got the Four tied up in Peter’s old bedroom without anything bad happening. Mission officially accomplished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh... they kidnapped the F4. Sorry not sorry?


	7. Johnny's Interlude (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I'm a day late again. Sorry! In my defense, it was my dad's birthday yesterday and I didn't have the time to post. But here we are with another one of Johnny's interludes. It's another short chapter, but my next update will DEFINITELY be on Tuesday this time!

When Johnny woke up, the first thing he noticed was that he was tied to a rather uncomfortable wooden chair. The second thing he noticed was Daken standing in the middle of the room, his arms crossed and hood and mask off. Fangs lurked in the background, his hands wrapped around the grips of his daggers. Johnny went to curse Daken out, then realized he was gagged and couldn’t. He looked to his left and noticed his whole family was in a similar situation. Sue had just started to wake up. Her immediate expression when she woke up was fear, followed by confusion and anger. She glared hard at Daken. Eventually, Reed and Ben woke up too. Daken finally spoke.

“Just so you know, this isn’t personal,” he said, “Kingpin wants you all dead, but I actually don’t. So kidnapping you and  _ pretending _ you’re dead is the next best thing.”

In the back, Fangs took off his mask, lit up what appeared to be a blunt (not that Johnny knew what that looked like), and started smoking. Daken gave him a look and Fangs just shrugged with one shoulder. Daken sighed and turned back to the Four.

“Don’t worry, the plan is to kill Kingpin as soon as possible,” Daken continued, “Then we’ll just let you go, no harm done. It’ll be over before you even realize it.”

Johnny really wished he could flip Daken off. Or punch him. Or both. Preferably both.

“I’ll leave Fangs with you for a bit,” Daken went on, “He’s going to be mostly in charge of taking care of you guys. But don’t worry, I’ll be sure to make a few visits.”

Daken turned around and walked over to where Fangs was leaning in the corner. He took the blunt right out of Fangs’s mouth and then left. Fangs started cursing at him in a mixture of Italian and English (Johnny recognized the Italian from hearing Peter swear in it every now and then). Daken just ignored him and shut the door.

“Motherfucker,” Fangs muttered as he put his mask back on, “Anyway, what he said. I’m gonna take these gags off now, but if you try anything I will not hesitate to- uh- fuck. I don’t have any threats I’ll actually go through with. Just don’t and it’ll make everything a whole lot easier, okay?”

He approached Johnny first, being surprisingly gentle as he untied the gag. The first thing Johnny did was spit at him. Fangs just wiped it off nonchalantly and moved over to Sue. Then Reed and Ben.

“Tell Daken that he’s a piece of shit and I will fry him as soon as I’m out of here,” Johnny growled.

Fangs snorted. “Yeah, good luck with that. I’ll let him know, though.”

“Why does Fisk want us dead?” Sue asked.

Fangs shrugged. “He probably just wants you guys out of the way. Joke’s on him,  _ he’ll _ be the one getting out of the way.”

“Does Peter know you kidnapped us?” Reed questioned.

“Yeah, he does,” Fangs replied, “Shocker, I know. But he’s on board with getting rid of Kingpin, so he knows it’s necessary.”

The Four had to be careful after that. The night of the gala, they’d realized that Daken had some weird power that had allowed him to get Johnny to power down. Reed had done some research, and they’d come to the realization that Daken was a pherokinetic. As in he used pheromones to influence the emotions and behavior of others. So they figured that was what Daken was doing to Peter. But they had to act like they didn’t know that in front of Daken and Fangs and hope they would get the chance to talk to Peter.

“You’ve gotta be kidding,” Ben said as Johnny used every swear word he could think of to pretend he hated Peter, “It’s  _ Peter _ .”

Fangs shrugged again. “People change. He realized that sometimes you’ve gotta do bad stuff to help the greater good. That’s all this is.”

“Can we talk to him?” Sue asked.

“Uh, I don’t know. I’ll ask Daken. It’s up to him.”

“I thought you two were a team,” Johnny commented, “And he’s making you follow his orders?”

“If you’re going to try to make me turn on him, it’s not gonna work,” Fangs drawled, “Yes, we’re a team. I just recognize that he’s the leader of the team.”

“Where does Peter fit into all this?” Reed asked.

Fangs rubbed the pommels of his daggers, his thumbs sliding up and down the grips. The way he did it made him seem almost anxious.  _ Interesting. _

“He’s Daken’s boyfriend,” he said finally, “Other than that, he’s our protection from people like you four. I don’t really know what else to tell you. He makes killer pancakes for us sometimes. That’s about it.”

“He does make good pancakes,” Ben agreed.

“Wait,” Johnny sputtered, “ _ Boyfriend? _ Peter’s  _ dating _ that monster?!”

Fangs nodded. “Yep. We’re way off topic. I’m supposed to be telling you about your schedules. Basically, it goes like this: Eat breakfast, go to the bathroom, eat supper, go to the bathroom, go to sleep. Maybe little breaks for stretching and talking if you’re good. But always under the supervision of either me or Daken. Sorry you have to skip lunch, but we tend to resource guard in this household and Daken isn’t too keen on having to share food. If you need anything extra, you’ll have to ask, but I’m not promising you’ll get it. Are we clear?”

“Fuck off,” Johnny snapped.

Fangs said something in Italian that was probably an insult. Johnny didn’t really care.

“Well, that’s all for now,” he said, beginning to tie their gags back on, “I’ll see you all at supper.”

Then he left, and Johnny was left with crushing disbelief and the urge to cry. A regular Thursday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's that. The Four have figured out what's going on and (kind of) have a plan. But they're still blissfully unaware that Peter is Fangs. Fun times.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FORGOT TO UPDATE AGAIN OH MY GOD I'M SORRY. Plus shit goes down in this chapter so you guys have every right to be mad at me lmao. But since so far I've been terrible at updating on time, tomorrow I'll post the next chapter as a bit of an apology. AND THIS TIME I WON'T FORGET

Having hostages was interesting. Especially when they were Peter’s second family and under the impression that he and Fangs were two completely different people. But at least Kingpin was under the impression that he and Daken had killed the Four. They slid right into his little circle. Kingpin had them do many little tasks, like getting rid of people he didn’t like and selling drugs. The pay was good, the work was just dull. But they got lots of good info about Kingpin out of it. And then Tombstone started taking a  _ special _ interest in Peter.

“He’s staring at you again,” Daken muttered during a meeting one day, “I’d like to clock that bitch.”

“Hey, calm down,” Peter soothed, leaning back and stretching, “We can use this to our advantage. He’s Kingpin’s right hand man. Think of all the shit he knows.”

“I’m not pimping you out for this,” Daken growled.

“No, you’re not.  _ I’m _ pimping  _ myself _ out. Just relax.”

And that was how Peter’s seduction of Tombstone began. He absolutely hated the guy and would rather stab himself with his own daggers than sleep with him, but it was for a good cause. Besides, the plan was to  _ not _ have to sleep with him, just get the information they needed and then kill him. Peter figured that wouldn’t be too hard. All he had to do was use his body and say suggestive things, and suddenly he had Tombstone right in his pocket. So Peter invited him over for a “special meeting”. Daken was home, just hiding in the bedroom. He’d helped Peter set everything up (aka the recording device attached to Peter’s suit and the conveniently placed power suppressing collar on the counter).

“Nice place,” Tombstone commented as he stepped inside, “You and Claws share it?”

“Yes, sir,” Peter confirmed, “He’s not home right now, though.”

Tombstone grabbed Peter’s hips. “Is that so?”

“I’ve got an odd question,” Peter said shyly, “Do you mind being blindfolded? I keep my identity very secret.”

“Not at all,” Tombstone replied, “I completely understand.”

So Peter blindfolded him. Then he guided him into the room where the Four were at, grabbing the collar as they went. He held a finger to his mouth to make sure the Four stayed quiet, then pushed Tombstone into the chair in the middle of the room. He straddled the man’s lap, carefully setting the collar aside for later.

“You can touch me,” Peter whispered.

Tombstone’s hands were on him in seconds. Peter had to help him with the mask and hood, but Tombstone had no trouble taking off the top of Peter’s suit by himself. Peter gave the Four a tiny salute and ignored the looks of horror in their eyes.

“You’ve worked for Fisk for a long time,” Peter commented, grinding down on Tombstone to distract him, “You must know everything about him.”

“I’d like to think that, yes,” Tombstone replied.

“Does he usually do the killing?” Peter questioned, “Or does he hire people?”

Tombstone’s hands grabbed Peter’s ass and Peter threw up in his mouth but kept going.

“Sometimes. Usually he hires people like you and Claws to do it for him.”

“Interesting,” Peter hummed, grabbing the collar, “Got one more question for you.”

“What would that be?”

“How do you feel about losing your powers?”

“Huh?”

Peter snapped the collar around his neck. Tombstone made a shocked noise and yanked his blindfold off, but Peter grabbed his arms and snapped the bones in both of them before the man could even try to defend himself. Tombstone screamed, and Peter slapped a hand over his mouth to shut him up.

“I need one more thing from you,” Peter stated calmly, “Names. Who has Fisk killed? I’ll know if you’re lying.”

“Go to hell,” Tombstone snarled.

“So we’re doing this the hard way? Alright.”

Peter slammed his foot into Tombstone’s lower leg so hard he could hear an audible crack as the bone broke.

“Okay, okay,” Tombstone wheezed, “I’ll give you the names.”

Peter stood up. “Start talking.”

Tombstone started listing names. Peter had done his research, so he knew Tombstone was telling the truth. When he was done, Peter stopped recording audio and handed the device over to Daken, who had appeared in the doorway.

“I should’ve known you were involved,  _ Daken _ ,” Tombstone growled, “You can never have enough, huh?”

“It’s not personal,” Daken replied politely, “But this will be.”

His claws extended. Peter stopped him as he started to walk forward.

“I call this one,” Peter said coolly.

He drew his daggers. Tombstone’s eyes widened with horror just in time for Peter to stab his daggers through both of them.

“Damn,” Daken commented.

“I’m never doing that again,” Peter said, making a face of disgust, “Getting groped by an old man is not pleasant.”

“I told you it was a bad idea!” Daken exclaimed.

“Yeah, well, we got what we needed,” Peter pointed out, tapping the recording device in Daken’s hand, “We’ve gotta move fast now. We have everything we need, and Kingpin’s gonna notice that Tombstone went missing.”

“You clean this up, I’ll organize everything else,” Daken said, leaning in and kissing Peter softly, “Good job.”

Peter smirked. “You owe me more than a kiss.”

Daken arched his eyebrows. “We’ll see.”

Peter grinned as Daken walked away. Then he turned back to the mess he’d made and immediately frowned. First, he put his suit back on but left the hood and mask down. Then he yanked his daggers out of Tombstone’s skull and immediately got splattered with blood. He glared at Tombstone’s dead body, wiped the blood off his face, and cleaned his daggers on Tombstone’s shirt.

“This is disgusting,” Peter said out loud as he assessed what he’d done to Tombstone.

In the corner, Johnny made a muffled noise, and Peter finally remembered the Four were watching. Sue and Johnny both had tears in their eyes, Reed still looked horrified, and Ben just looked sad.

“Sorry,” Peter apologized, “You were gonna find out eventually. This was just easier than telling you.”

He finished cleaning up, shoving Tombstone’s body into a couple of garbage bags and taping them together. Then he went out to the main room, where Daken was already on his laptop assessing a map of Fisk Tower and clearly deep in thought. Peter pressed a soft kiss to the top of his head.

“I’ll get rid of the body later tonight,” Daken said, turning to him, “Now that the Four know who you are, I want you to keep away from them, alright? They’ll try to turn you against me.”

Something about that didn’t sit right with Peter, but he nodded anyway. “Alright. That means you gotta take care of them, though.”

“I know,” Daken replied, “It shouldn’t be too hard. Why don’t you go shower? I’ll join you in a bit.”

Peter smirked. “I like the sound of that. Don’t keep me waiting.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Daken murmured, kissing Peter gently.

After that night, the real work started. Kingpin had contacted them saying that Tombstone had gone missing, and he wanted them to be his new part-time bodyguards. They had to report to Fisk Tower that evening. They hurried to prepare for the fight they knew was coming. Peter was too busy getting ready to think about the Four. He wasn’t scared, not exactly, but he was worried. Kingpin was powerful. Peter’s stomach churned the whole way to Fisk Tower.

“Don’t worry,” Daken said as they walked in, “We’ll be fine.”

Kingpin was waiting for them in his office. His expression betrayed no emotion, but there was a feeling of unrest in the air. Was Kingpin actually worried?

“As I mentioned before, Tombstone has gone missing,” he said as soon as the door was shut, “You two are my most valuable assets at the moment. I’ll up your pay scale, and in return you will be my new bodyguards. This will be only temporary. I’m already in the market for an official bodyguard.”

“We’re glad to take on this duty,” Daken replied politely, “Do you have any idea what happened to Tombstone? Perhaps Fangs could do some hunting.”

“As of right now, no. I have people working on it. I’ll get back to you on that at a later date.”

“Of course,” Daken said.

Peter casually stepped up to the window, positioning himself behind Kingpin’s desk. “Do we need to worry about attacks from the air?”

“No, that shouldn’t be necessary,” Kingpin responded, “You two already eliminated Osborn. For now, you can stand guard outside my office and accompany me to assorted events. I’ll work on improving your public image.”

Peter suddenly drew his daggers and lunged, burying them deep in Kingpin’s thigh and shoulder. Kingpin roared with pain as Daken jumped over the desk, his real claws extending and sinking into Kingpin’s chest. With his good arm, Kingpin drew a pistol and fired it directly at Daken. Daken was fast, and the bullet missed its intended target (his chest) and went cleanly through his upper arm. Peter ripped out the dagger in Kingpin’s shoulder and sliced off the hand holding the gun, and Daken removed his claws and backflipped out of the way of Kingpin’s punch.

“You two!” he exclaimed, standing up as Peter backed away, “Why are you doing this?”

“You control the crime in this city,” Daken growled, “I want that control. And if I have to kill you, then so be it.”

Kingpin tore out Peter’s other dagger and tossed it away. “You’re Daken. The son of Wolverine.”

“Correct!” Daken replied, “You’ve heard of me?”

“I have much respect for you!” Kingpin said, “You tried to kill the Fantastic Four and the Avengers! Perhaps we can form a partnership!”

“Not happening,” Daken scoffed, “Come on, red, let’s finish him.”

They moved in unison. Peter cut off Kingpin’s remaining hand, and Daken buried his claws in Kingpin’s throat. Peter swung his dagger and stabbed directly into the top of Kingpin’s head. He was dead in seconds. Peter let out a sigh of relief and collected both his daggers, cleaning them off on Kingpin’s shirt. Daken wiped off his claws before retracting them.

“We did it,” Peter said incredulously, “Holy shit.”

Daken hugged Peter. “Yeah, we did. Let’s go home.”

Back at home, Daken and Peter cleaned themselves up and showered together again. They didn’t have sex, just kissed each other and stayed close. They were relieved that the mission was over, but it felt like all of the exhaustion from their months of work suddenly hit them. They went to bed early that night, and they just spent the next day relaxing.

Of course, the relaxation didn’t last long. Daken immediately started working again. There was a power vacuum with Kingpin gone, and he intended to fill it. Peter went back to his Spider-Man duties, but things were quiet with his big villains gone. He felt like something was wrong, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He just went through each day the same.

One morning, Peter woke up alone. He got up, pulled on some sweatpants, and went out to the kitchen. He noticed the door to the extra room was open. Johnny was asleep, but the other three saw him. Peter stepped cautiously up to the doorway.

“Did Daken feed you before he left?” he asked.

Sue shook her head. Her eyes were on his neck, and Peter rubbed at the hickeys there. He ducked his head with shame and retreated back to the kitchen. He made eggs and bacon for all five of them, separating them into different plates and adding silverware and napkins. He carried it all into the room and shut the door. By that time, Johnny had woken up. Peter untied him first.

“No funny business,” he warned, “Just eat.”

Johnny took a plate without saying anything, and Peter went on to untie the other three. They stayed in their chairs to eat, and Peter sat cross-legged on the floor.

“Peter, I have a question I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Reed spoke up, “Do you know what pheromones are?”

Peter frowned. “Sure. I don’t see why you need to ask me that, though.”

“Did you know Daken has pheromones?” Sue asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Peter replied, “He used them on Johnny the night we killed Osborn. That’s the only reason we got away.”

“He’s using them on you, Pete,” Johnny said hoarsely.

Peter looked over at him with a shocked expression. “What? That’s ridiculous. He wouldn’t-”

He paused suddenly. Hadn’t Daken promised they’d let the Four go as soon as Kingpin was dead? Why were they still there? And why hadn’t Peter bothered to ask about it? He felt sick suddenly, setting his food aside.

“You’re starting to get it, aren’t you?” Reed asked gently.

“This isn’t you, Pete,” Ben added, “You’re the kindest person we know. You would never kill anyone for your own personal gain.”

Peter got to his feet suddenly, striding out of the room and heading straight for the kitchen sink. He vomited in it and then just leaned over it, his arms shaking as he held himself up. Things started making sense. Why would he let Daken sleep with him? He  _ hated _ Daken.

“Oh my God,” he said out loud, tears filling his eyes.

He threw up again, his whole body starting to shake. Sue appeared at his side. She went to rub his back and he punched her without thinking about it, stumbling away from her and the other three. She stood there holding her face and guilt washed over him. He hit the floor.

“It’s okay, Peter,” Sue said, “This isn’t your fault.”

“He  _ raped _ me,” Peter managed to get out, tears falling freely, “And I’ve killed so many people!”

His voice cracked and he choked up. The Four looked helpless. Peter felt vomit coming up again, and he stood on shaky feet and threw up in the sink again. There wasn’t even much left to throw up.

“Do you know when he’ll be back?” Reed asked.

“No,” Peter rasped, stepping away from the sink, “I don’t even know where he went.”

He stepped past the Four and went to his and Daken’s room. He put on his Spider-Man suit but added the belt from his Fangs suit, hooking his daggers to it and going back out to where the Four were waiting. Someone had washed his puke down the drain.

“When he gets back, I’m going to kill him,” he said with absolutely no emotion, “For now, you four stay in the other room. I won’t tie you up, but I’m gonna shut the door and act like nothing’s happened.”

“You’re going to need our help,” Ben pointed out.

“I’ll surprise him,” Peter replied, “That’s how we killed Kingpin. He’ll get a taste of his own medicine. But, just in case, the code to your collars is six one six.”

“Be careful,” Sue said gently, cupping Peter’s face in her hands, “We’ll be right there if you need us.”

Peter smiled weakly. “I know. Thank you.”

The Four went back to the room. Peter paced in the living room. His initial horror had been replaced with anger. He wanted to tear out Daken’s throat for what he’d done. Thankfully, he didn’t have long to wait. He heard Daken’s key in the door and sat down on the couch, pretending to scroll through Instagram. Daken walked up behind him.

“Good morning,” he greeted, kissing the top of Peter’s head.

Peter dropped his phone, wrapped his arms around Daken’s neck, and threw him over the couch. He landed on the coffee table and it broke into several pieces. Peter drew his daggers and approached Daken.

“You’ve been using pheromones on me,” he snarled as Daken stumbled to his feet, his claws extending in defense.

“What? No-”

“Don’t  _ lie _ to me!” Peter yelled, “The Four told me! I figured it out! My mind isn’t yours anymore, Daken!”

Daken paled. “I don’t want to hurt you, red.”

“You already have,” Peter growled, “Pheromones don’t equal consent.”

He swung his daggers. Daken dodged and kept backing away, unable to do anything to defend himself. Vibranium could easily cut through his claws.

“Please, Peter, don’t do this,” Daken begged, “I love you.”

“If you loved me, you wouldn’t have forced me into all this,” Peter shot back.

One of his daggers carved a clear path through Daken’s upper thigh. He hissed in pain and hurried to get away from Peter’s next swing. He grabbed a vase and chucked it at Peter’s head. Peter dodged the vase but got tackled by Daken. Daken tossed Peter’s daggers away.

“Don’t make me do this,” Daken pleaded.

Peter punched him in the face. He screamed as Daken’s claws plunged into his stomach, reaching for daggers that weren’t there.

“I  _ hate _ you,” Peter choked out.

“I know,” Daken replied quietly, his claws raised for the final blow.

Before he could move, one of Peter’s daggers came plunging down through Daken’s heart. It stopped right before touching Peter’s body. Daken’s body slumped to the side, and Peter shoved it away. Standing above him with righteous fury in her eyes was Sue.

“Are you okay?” she asked immediately, crouching next to Peter and pressing her hands to Peter’s wound. Peter hissed with discomfort.

“I’m fine,” he replied, his eyes filling with tears again, “Why would you do that? Why would you take that from me?”

“You don’t need another death on your conscience, Peter,” Sue said, “And I would do  _ anything _ to protect you.”

“We should get him to the hospital,” Reed spoke up.

“Not the hospital,” Peter grunted, “You know how I feel about hospitals.”

“The Tower, then. We can take care of you there,” Sue offered.

“Fine,” Peter muttered, and then he passed out.

Peter woke up in a bright room he recognized as the med bay of the Four’s Tower. His stomach had already healed, so he figured he’d been out for a while. Johnny was slumped in a nearby chair, clearly asleep. Ben was playing solitaire on the floor. He looked up when Peter started moving around.

“How are you feeling, kiddo?” Ben asked, getting up to stand next to Peter’s bed.

“Fine,” Peter replied, staring up at the ceiling.

“Sue and Reed were here earlier, but they had to go to a press conference,” Ben said, “They’ll be back later.”

“Okay.”

“Are you hungry? I can go make you a sandwich or something.”

“Sure.”

Ben hesitated before leaving. Johnny was still asleep. Peter got up, found some of Johnny’s clothes nearby, and put them on. His webshooters were there too, and he put them on under the long sleeve. Checking to make sure Johnny was still asleep, he slipped out of the room and found the nearest window. It took him a while to get to the apartment he’d shared with Daken, but he got there eventually. It had been closed off as a crime scene, but Peter ignored that and went in anyway. The place had been cleared out, but no one had found the two duffel bags full of money Daken had stored in the ceiling. Peter grabbed them, along with some of his old clothes, and left. He swung back to the Tower and got in through Johnny’s window. The Four were gathered in the living room. Sue was pacing back and forth and let out a cry of relief when she saw Peter.

“Where did you go?” she asked, “We were so worried!”

Peter dropped the bags on the ground. “Places.”

Sue tried to hug him, but Peter flinched away from her.

“I’m sorry, Peter,” she said, “You must be hungry. Let’s get you something to eat.”

“Don’t touch those,” Peter snapped when Reed tried to look at the bags.

Reed stepped back. “Okay. Sorry.”

Ben got out the sandwich Peter assumed he’d made earlier. Peter ate it slowly, staring blankly at the table as he did so. Someone got him a glass of water. He drank it just as slowly.

“You can stay with us until you get back on your feet,” Sue said, “We have a spare bedroom already set up.”

“Thanks,” Peter replied stiffly.

“I’ll show you it,” Johnny offered.

Peter grabbed his bags and followed Johnny to the room. Once inside, they both just stood there awkwardly.

“He made me forget about you,” Peter said suddenly, “And about how I felt about you.”

“You don’t have to talk about it, webs,” Johnny replied.

“Yes I do,” Peter snapped, “I have to because you’ve thought the worst of me for  _ weeks _ , and-”

He cut himself off before he could finish his sentence.  _ And I love you _ .

“We can just forget about that, okay?” Johnny said, “I know now that you weren’t in control of your own actions. And I forgive you for everything.”

Peter blinked back tears. “Thank you.”

Johnny opened his arms for a hug, and Peter didn’t flinch away. He just sunk into the embrace, breathing in the familiar smell of Johnny’s cologne and trying not to cry. He’d missed Johnny’s hugs. They were always warm.

“If you need anything, I’m right down the hall,” Johnny said when he pulled away, “Maybe you should shower?”

Peter nodded. “Yeah. Good idea.”

After his shower, he tried to go to sleep but found himself unable to. He stared at the ceiling for a long time, because every time he closed his eyes he saw Daken hovering above him, his chains dangling in Peter’s face. Finally, he just got up and began methodically counting and sorting the cash in the duffel bags. He separated it by bills, making piles of hundreds, fifties, twenties, and so on and so forth. By the time he was done counting, he had over a million dollars in blood money piled on the floor. Then he just sat there and stared at it all. He jumped when the door suddenly opened and Reed walked in.

“I saw the light on, and I was-” Reed stopped talking when he noticed the money. He shut the door gently.

“It’s blood money,” Peter said before he could ask, “A little over a million dollars worth.”

Reed sat down on the floor with him. “You and Daken made this?”

Peter nodded. “Yup. We got paid good for killing Rogers. Osborn and Octavius too. The rest of it’s just from random jobs we picked up. Pedophiles, rapists, human traffickers, the like.”

“What are you going to do with it?” Reed asked.

Peter shrugged. “Might burn it, might not.”

“I can help you with that,” Reed offered, “Johnny would do a better job, but I don’t think he’d really want to.”

“Yeah,” Peter agreed quietly, “I’m sorry, by the way.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Reed replied, “Nothing you’ve done in the past few months has been your choice. It was Daken and his grooming.”

“I feel like I do,” Peter said, looking over at him, “How can I just forget what I’ve done, Reed? I’m responsible for so many deaths. Sixty-eight, to be exact. That’s how many people have died either by my hand or Daken’s since we started working together.”

“Natasha woke up from her coma,” Reed offered, “I don’t know if she’s included in that, but I thought you should know.”

“Sixty-seven then,” Peter said, “I counted her.”

“You can’t blame yourself, Pete,” Reed soothed him, “You had no control. I keep saying that, and I know the others keep saying it too, and we’re going to keep saying it until you believe it. He used his pheromones on you. You have a lower tolerance for chemical intoxicants to begin with. And I’m assuming his constant presence made you develop an addiction to them, to the point where they affected you even when you weren’t in the same room. That’s on him, not you. He used you.”

Peter laughed dryly. “He sure did. You know what makes that even more fucked up? I’m pretty sure he actually loved me. In a really twisted way, but it was love to him.”

“The world wasn’t kind to Daken,” Reed pointed out, “He was never shown what real love was.”

“Yeah,” Peter agreed, “Until me. Which I hate. He ruined my life, and in return he got my love and affection because I thought I was in control of my own mind.”

“And that’s not okay,” Reed said, “But it happened, and now you’re going to have to move past it. It’ll be hard, and the journey is going to suck, but you have to move on from this. Recognize that Daken was the monster, not you, and move on.”

Peter sighed. “I can try.”

“I believe in you, Pete. Always have, always will. You’re strong. You’ll be okay. We’ll get through this together.”

Peter hoped he was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh... oof. Peter's got some recovering to do.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here is the new chapter a day after the last one. For once I'm updating on time! Next update will be Saturday, and that's the last chapter! We're almost there boys.

A week went by. At the end of it, Peter used some of the blood money to get new tally tattoos. He went to his usual place. The tattoo artist there, a man by the name of Marcus, had figured out he was Spider-Man a long time ago and knew what he was counting. So he was noticeably concerned when Peter said he needed sixty-seven more tallies. Daken was included in that count, which was something Peter would never say to anyone out loud. He just wanted to remember. The line of tallies across his collarbones got finished, and a new line under the original line that went around the back and sides of Peter’s neck got started and then finished. That just left a few more tallies, so a new line under his collarbones got started. Peter hoped it would never get finished.

During that week, Peter had done a lot of thinking. So by the end of it, he knew what he wanted to do. He just had to get through the Four to do it, and hope they accepted his wishes and stayed out of his business. It would be hard, but Peter knew it was the best thing for him to do.

“I’m moving to San Francisco,” he announced at supper on Saturday night.

“You’re  _ what? _ ” Johnny exclaimed immediately.

“I’m leaving New York,” Peter continued, “And I’m giving up Spider-Man.”

The Four looked shocked. Peter had expected that.

“Are you sure?” Sue asked, “You love it here.”

“Not anymore,” Peter replied bluntly, “Everywhere I go, I see a reminder of Daken. Of something he made me do. And I want out.”

“You can’t just leave,” Johnny choked out, “You’re our family! We can’t- I can’t-”

He shut his mouth and Peter winced. That was the part he wasn’t prepared for. Johnny’s reaction and the hurt in his eyes.

“It’s your decision, Peter,” Reed said gently, but his expression was full of sorrow.

“I’m leaving on Monday,” Peter continued, “I don’t have any loose ends I need to tie up. Daken made sure of that. So I’m just gonna go. I booked a flight already.”

“Do you need anything from us before you go?” Ben asked.

Peter shook his head. “No. I’ll be fine. And I want you guys to know that this doesn’t have anything to do with you. I love you all, you know that. I just can’t be in this city anymore. I can’t be Spider-Man knowing I failed everyone who lives here so horribly.”

“We understand, honey,” Sue reassured him, “This is your choice. It’s your life. You can make your own decisions.”

“Thank you,” Peter said gratefully.

Johnny stood up abruptly and left the room. Peter followed him without thinking about it, shoving his foot between the doorway and the door to Johnny’s room as he tried to close it. He pushed his way inside. Johnny was already crying.

“Don’t do this to me, Pete,” Johnny pleaded, “Please. You can’t just-”

Peter kissed him. His lips were salty with fallen tears but he was still as perfect at kissing as Peter remembered. Warmth blossomed in Peter’s stomach and filled his whole body, and he wished he could feel like that all the time. But then Johnny pulled away and the feeling disappeared.

“I’m sorry,” Peter apologized immediately, “You deserve better.”

“Maybe,” Johnny replied softly, “But I want you. I love you, Peter Parker. I’ve always loved you.”

Peter’s eyes started watering. “I know. I love you too.”

He kissed Johnny again, melting into the older man’s warmth and sighing contentedly as their bodies fit against each other like puzzle pieces. He’d wanted to do that for so long.

“Are you sure you have to go?” Johnny asked quietly.

“It’s what’s best for me,” Peter replied, cupping Johnny’s face with one hand and pressing their foreheads together, “You get that, don’t you? You get that if I stay here it’ll kill me?”

Johnny sounded shattered when he replied. “Yeah. Yeah, I do. But I’m gonna miss you.”

“I know,” Peter responded, his voice cracking, “I’m gonna miss you too.”

They laid in bed for a while, their limbs tangled together and Peter’s head buried in Johnny’s neck so he could breathe in his scent. Then he got up and took a shower in Johnny’s bathroom, letting his tears join the water running down his body. When he was done, he dried off and put on a pair of spandex he usually wore under his suit. Then he walked back into Johnny’s room, where the blond was still laying on his bed. He stared at Peter when he walked in, his eyes taking in every inch of Peter’s skin. Not much was left to the imagination.

“You know you’re beautiful, right?” Johnny asked, “You’ve always been beautiful.”

Peter climbed up on the bed and straddled Johnny’s waist, leaning down and kissing him gently. He sunk down even lower and kissed Johnny’s neck, lacing his fingers with Johnny’s and enjoying the soft noises of pleasure Johnny made.

“I want you,” Peter whispered into his ear, “Before I go, I want you.”

Johnny looked up at him with concern. “Are you sure? Right after Daken?”

“I always wanted it to be you,” Peter admitted, sitting back and sighing as Johnny’s hands found his hips, “I wanted you to be my first. And he took that from me. But he can’t take  _ this _ from me.”

He rocked forward gently, noticing how Johnny’s pupils got bigger and how his fingers dug into Peter’s hips. He loved it. He loved Johnny.

“Okay,” Johnny agreed, “Okay. Just tell me what to do.”

He let Johnny fuck him, slow and gentle and nothing like the pain Peter had felt with Daken. But he made sure he had control over Johnny’s actions, too used to Daken doing everything to want to be completely vulnerable. When it was done, they laid together in silence, their bodies intertwined and breath mingling. It was perfect. Everything with Johnny was perfect.

“I love you,” Peter whispered before they fell asleep.

Johnny kissed his forehead. “I love you too.”

Peter spent every minute before he left with Johnny. They slept together, ate together, showered together, sprawled out on the couch and watched TV together. The other three must’ve noticed, but they didn’t comment on it. But then Monday came, and Peter packed up his bags. All he brought with him was the money, his webshooters, and some clothes. He didn’t have much else to bring.

“It’s not too late for you to change your mind,” Johnny whispered.

They were standing in the foyer of the Tower. It was quiet, all the employees of the Tower were already at work. The only people there were Peter and the Four.

“I have to do this, Johnny,” Peter replied quietly, lacing their fingers together and standing close, “You know that.”

Johnny blinked back tears. “It still hurts.”

Peter sighed, pressing their foreheads together even though Sue, Ben, and Reed were watching. He kissed Johnny briefly, then let go and stepped away. He hugged the others, then picked up his bag and smiled weakly at them.

“We’re gonna miss you, Pete,” Ben said, looking more emotional than Peter had ever seen him.

“I’ll miss you guys too,” Peter replied.

Sue gave him a soft smile. “Take care of yourself. Don’t eat donuts like a fiend when I’m not there to stop you.”

Peter chuckled. “I make no promises.”

He glanced back at Johnny, whose tears threatened to spill out of his eyes. Peter teared up a little at the sight, but he smiled as warmly as he could. Then he turned around and walked out, hailing a cab when he got out on the street. He watched the Four’s Tower recede in the distance as they drove away. And then he settled in and sighed, ready to start his new life.

_ *one year later* _

New York City was quiet. It had been for some time, especially after the mess with Daken and Peter. Spider-Man disappearing had caused a bit of a riot, but his villains had seemingly given up after discovering they wouldn’t be able to fight him. They had some very emotional attachments to him. Johnny felt that on a personal level.

With the quietness came a sense of safety. Johnny was used to boring patrols, stopping robbers and car thieves but nothing bigger than that. His personal project, though, a kid by the name of Miles Morales, was starting to draw attention. Miles had come out of nowhere a few months ago, claiming a spider bite and terrified of his new powers. Johnny had taken him under his wing, given him one of Peter’s old suits and let him personalize it. He was proud of the kid. Only fourteen and still such a fighter. Peter would have adored him.

Because of the emergence of Spider-Man, even though he was a completely different person, Peter’s old villains were starting to reemerge. They weren’t as bold as they once were, but they were starting to target Miles. Johnny scared off most of them, but he knew the day would come when Miles would have to deal with them. That made him nervous. Miles was just so  _ tiny _ . Johnny wanted to protect him, but he knew he couldn’t always be there for him. Just like he hadn’t always been there for Peter.

Johnny went home that night and found Miles there, unsurprisingly. He liked to randomly show up and cause trouble, or just babysit Franklin when the others were busy. He was good with kids. Good with people in general. He had Johnny wrapped around his finger, after all. Franklin adored Miles as well. He never cried or screamed when Miles was there to hold him. Sue appreciated that a lot.

“Hey, kiddo,” Johnny greeted, ruffling Miles’s hair as he walked past the couch, “Quiet night out. You didn’t miss much.”

“You didn’t either,” Miles replied without looking up, busy rocking Franklin to sleep, “Reed’s in the lab, Sue’s working, Ben’s training. Sue said it’s leftovers for supper.”

“Shouldn’t you be eating supper at your own house?” Johnny asked, getting himself a glass of water, “Are your parents worried?”

“I told them I was invited to supper at Ganke’s,” Miles replied, “I’ll go home after you magically warm some food up for me.”

Johnny chuckled. “Sure thing.”

Miles suddenly jolted, brow furrowing with concern. He put Franklin into his carrier and turned on the TV, quickly flipping to the news channel. Johnny watched him carefully. He knew enough about Miles’s sixth sense to recognize it in action.

“Something’s wrong,” Miles said, changing to a different news station, “Just gotta find it.”

Johnny quickly finished off his water. “How big is it?”

“Big. Scared me.”

“Herbie, do me a huge favor and tell Sue, Ben, and Reed to get up here,” Johnny instructed the AI Reed had built into the building, “Tell them it’s an emergency.”

“ _ Yes, sir, _ ” Herbie replied in his usual calm tone, “ _ Contacting them now. _ ”

“There it is,” Miles said, standing up abruptly and pointing at the TV, “Doombots! We gotta go  _ now! _ ”

“Herbie, pass that on to the others,” Johnny instructed, “Miles, stay here. Watch Franklin.”

“What?” Miles asked, whirling around to stare at him, “You can’t go alone!”

“You can’t leave Franklin alone,” Johnny pointed out, “Please. Do this for me.”

“You can’t keep me out of this forever, Johnny!” Miles exclaimed as Johnny hurried to the nearest exit.

“I will for as long as I can!” Johnny called back, leaping out of the window and flaming on.

It didn’t take him long to find the Doombots. They were causing a ruckus outside of Oscorp. Harry Osborn’s defenses were good (Johnny had mad respect for that guy), but the Doombots were definitely getting in. Johnny didn’t know what Victor wanted from Oscorp, but he didn’t particularly care. He just dove into the fight, melting Doombots and welding them together in order to keep them out of the way. But then he caught sight of Miles swinging his way through the fight, and with a muffled scream of frustration he grabbed him and hauled him under the available cover of a tipped car.

“I was  _ gonna _ stay at the Tower,” Miles babbled, “But Herbie said he’d notify me if anything was wrong with Franklin, and I knew I’d get here faster than the others, and I couldn’t just let you fight these guys alone, so-”

“Shut up,” Johnny interrupted, “You’re here now. I need you to get into Oscorp and find Harry. I don’t think he ever leaves that place. Protect him, okay?”

Miles nodded. “You can count on me.”

Johnny gave him a tight-lipped smile. “I know. Make me proud.”

Before Miles could swing away, the sound of shattering glass from several stories up reached their ears. The Doombots all paused, clearly as confused as Miles and Johnny. The two just gaped as they processed what they were seeing. A white spider symbol emblazoned across red and blue. A figure clamped in strong arms. A strand of webbing shooting out and swinging them to safety.

“What the hell?” Johnny breathed.

The spider and his passenger landed a few feet away and were immediately assaulted by Doombots. White and red gloved fists slammed into the heads of the bots, crushing them immediately. The passenger dashed away, and Johnny finally recognized him as Harry Osborn. He grabbed him by the wrist as he passed.

“Who is that?” he demanded.

Harry hesitated. “That’s his decision to make. I’m sorry, Storm.”

The Fantasti-car pulled up. Johnny let go of Harry.

“Miles, get him to the Fantasti-car and send him to the Tower,” Johnny instructed.

Miles didn’t respond. He was staring at the spider, who had finished off the bots and was staring right back.

“You’re like me,” Miles whispered, a comment that Johnny assumed he hadn’t meant to say out loud.

The other spider took a step forward, then lunged to the side as a Doombot came out of nowhere. Miles snapped out of his daze and looked to Johnny.

“Did you hear me?” Johnny demanded, “Take Harry. Go!”

Miles did as he was told. Sue, Reed, and Ben joined Johnny.

“What’s going on?” Sue asked.

Johnny shook his head. “I have no clue.”

Another wave of Doombots poured in, and the Four got busy taking care of them. The new spider was right in the thick of it, crushing Doombots with his thighs and doing other badass stuff that amazed Johnny. There was something so familiar about him, but Johnny couldn’t allow himself to hope. He’d done that too many times already. Maybe he was like Miles. Just another random civilian hoping to live up to Peter Parker’s legacy. If he was, he clearly had experience in fights. It was pretty impressive.

“Do you think it’s Peter?” Reed asked when they ended up near each other during the fight.

“Shut up,” Johnny snapped, “Don’t do that.”

“I know, but-”

“Johnny’s right,” Sue said through their coms, “False hope is never good for a person, Reed.”

A Doombot sent the spider flying, slamming into a car. The spider groaned, struggling to his feet.

“Fucking hell,” the spider cursed as the Doombot returned to finish the job.

He launched himself at the bot, a clean uppercut separating the Doombot’s head from the rest of its body. Johnny was impressed.

“How many more of these things are there?” Johnny asked as he dove through a crowd of Doombots, not sure who he was directing the question at.

“They’re all out of the building,” Ben replied, “I think they’re almost gone.”

“What were they after?” Sue questioned.

“We can find out from Harry,” Johnny said, “I had Miles bring him back to the Tower.”

Johnny flew to the spider’s rescue as a Doombot tossed him through a mailbox, resisting the urge to laugh. He finished off the Doombot and looked over to check on the spider, who was already on his feet. He was bleeding from the metal of the mailbox cutting him, and a large gash in the back of his suit exposed his neck and the top of his back. That’s when Johnny froze.

There were tally marks on his neck. Two rows of them.

“Peter?”

The spider didn’t respond. He just assessed the scene (the other three were finishing off the last handful of bots). Then he dashed away, vaulting into the air and swinging away. Johnny just gaped after him, too in shock to pursue.

“Johnny? What’s up?” Ben asked.

“That was him!” Johnny exclaimed, laughing almost hysterically, “That was him, Ben!”

“What?”

Johnny turned to him, grinning so widely his face hurt. “I saw his tattoos. That was Peter Parker.”

“You’re joking,” Sue said, her eyes wide, “Are you sure?”

Johnny nodded, looking back in the direction Peter had disappeared in. “I know what I saw. Tally mark tattoos. Two rows of them on his neck.”

“I was right!” Reed said triumphantly.

“Why would he just run off?” Johnny questioned, suddenly hurt.

“Give him time,” Sue soothed, “It’s been a year, Johnny. He’s probably scared to get too close to us again.”

“We should get back to the Tower,” Reed pointed out, “We need to talk to Osborn and see what Victor wants from him.”

They called the Fantasti-car back. Johnny flew alongside it on the journey home, his mind still whirling. Peter was back.  _ Peter was back _ .

“Is this real?” Johnny asked as they walked inside, “Holy shit. I can’t- It’s  _ Peter _ .”

Sue ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head with disbelief. “He’s been gone for so long. I almost forgot…”

She trailed off, seemingly lost in thought. They continued to the living room, where Harry was sitting in a chair nursing a cup of coffee. Miles was sitting nearby holding Franklin, his mask still on.

“Sorry I yelled at you,” Johnny said quietly, sitting down next to the small spider, “You did good.”

“Who was that guy?” Miles asked, shaking with excitement, “I could sense it! It was like our Spider-Senses linked up or something. He’s like me!”

“He is,” Johnny agreed, a smile brightening his face, “That was  _ him _ .”

Johnny couldn’t see Miles’s face, but he could sense his awe. “The  _ original? _ ”

Johnny nodded, still smiling. “He’s back.”

“He’s been trying to come back for a couple weeks,” Harry spoke up.

Johnny looked up at him. “Excuse me?”

“He came to me for help,” Harry explained, “We were friends in high school, he knew he could trust me. He just needed the tech to get his life back together. I gave him the materials, he built the suit and improved his webshooters. I’m just glad he happened to be at Oscorp tonight.”

Johnny stared at him with blatant shock. “He-  _ weeks? _ ”

Harry nodded. “I know this must be hard for you. He said you were close.”

Miles side-eyed Johnny. This was the can of worms Johnny had been dreading opening.

“He could’ve come to us,” Sue said weakly, sitting down, “Why didn’t he?”

“He’s scared shitless,” Harry replied bluntly, “He’s got a lot of memories, and I know he’s been working on it, but seeing you would inevitably bring some back. I’d imagine that’s why he’s not sitting in this room right now.”

“He ran away,” Johnny inserted, “But I think he knows I know.”

“That’s good,” Harry said, “It’ll give him a reason to approach you all again.”

“Did he tell you about what happened with Daken?” Reed asked, sitting down next to Sue.

“Yes, he did,” Harry confirmed, taking a sip of his coffee, “He’s better now, I can promise you that. He’s forgiven himself. Lots of therapy.”

Johnny sighed with relief. “Good. That’s good.”

“That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any baggage left,” Harry pointed out, “He’s forgiven himself for what he did. He recognizes it wasn’t his fault. But he hasn’t forgiven Daken. He’s been staying at my place, and when he has nightmares he talks in his sleep. Usually it’s about Daken.”

Johnny winced. “Jesus.”

“He’ll get better,” Harry reassured him, “He found a good therapist here. Goes twice a week. Plus I’ve been making sure he’s not outworking himself. I give him little tasks around Oscorp, enough to keep him busy but not stressed. My advisors are pretty pissed about it because he doesn’t have an actual degree, but I want to give him a job at Oscorp. He’d do good things there.”

“Yes, he would,” Reed agreed, “But now for some business. What does Victor want from you? Why would he attack Oscorp?”

Harry sighed. “I wish I knew. We aren’t working on any big projects right now. The most substantial thing we’ve got is a clean energy project for all of Manhattan. I don’t see how that would concern him.”

“Are you sure that’s all?” Sue pressed, “There has to be a reason behind this.”

Harry frowned. “Perhaps he was after some of my father’s work. Norman had some nasty things stored in our basement. And I can’t say I’ve done much to clean it out since I inherited the company.”

“You should work on that,” Reed suggested, “We can always help if you need.”

Harry smiled gratefully. “Thank you. Good luck with Peter. He’ll come around, you just have to give him time.”

“I’ll fly you home in the Fantasti-car,” Ben offered, “Safer than a cab.”

They headed out, and Sue and Reed took Franklin and retreated to their room. That left Johnny and Miles.

“You should get home,” Johnny pointed out, “It’s getting late. I don’t want your parents to worry.”

“You still have to feed me,” Miles retorted, taking off his mask, “And I want an explanation. You never told me you and the old Spider-Man were  _ close! _ I mean, I know you guys fought together a lot, but that doesn’t mean much in the superhero community. And what was all that other stuff? Who’s Daken? What did Spider-Man do?”

Johnny sighed. “It’s a long story, kiddo. Can it wait?”

“Um, no! That’s stupid. I want to know! If I have to, I’ll tell my parents I’m staying overnight at Ganke’s.”

“Fine. Sit down at the island, I’ll get us something to eat,” Johnny replied, “Just let me go get out of this suit.”

He changed into an old pair of basketball shorts that had belonged to Peter, along with a soft cotton shirt. He wanted to be comfortable when he relived one of the worst times of his life. Once he was back out in the kitchen, he got out some shrimp pad thai he’d made the night before. He heated up plates for both himself and Miles, and then he sat down and took a deep breath.

“This is good,” Miles mumbled around a mouthful of food, “Story time.”

“I’m gonna get straight to the point,” Johnny said, “Spider-Man’s name is Peter Parker. And I was in love with him.”

Miles choked and had to swallow some water. “You were  _ what? _ ”

“You know I’m bi, Miles,” Johnny drawled, “Don’t act so surprised.”

“Okay, yeah, but I didn’t expect  _ that _ ,” Miles replied, “Geez.”

“Why do you think I’m so sweet on you?” Johnny joked, “I’ve got a soft spot for spiders.”

Miles snorted. “Whatever, man. Keep going.”

“He loved me too,” Johnny went on, “I don’t know if he still does. I know I still love him. We’ve known each other since we were sixteen. It’s hard not to care about him. He was part of our family, you know?”

Miles nodded. “I get it.”

“A little over a year ago, Peter got involved in some bad stuff,” Johnny continued, “Daken was a mutant with pheromone powers. You know how you have a low tolerance for chemical intoxicants? Peter has that too. So pheromones worked like a charm on him. Daken spent months grooming him and turning him into the perfect mercenary. And he used his pheromones on Peter to get him to sleep with him.”

Miles’s eyes were wide. “Isn’t that  _ rape? _ ”

Johnny nodded. “Yeah. It is.”

Miles looked sick, but he kept eating. “That’s horrible.”

“Eventually, we helped Peter realize what Daken was doing to him,” Johnny said, “Sue ended up killing Daken. But Peter needed time to recover. Daken had made him kill a lot of people, and he hated himself for it. So he moved out of the city, quit being Spider-Man, and lost all contact with us.”

Miles chewed thoughtfully. “So if he’s back, what does that mean?”

“I assume he’s recovered enough that he feels comfortable being back in New York,” Johnny replied, “And if he’s picking up the Spider-Man mantle again, he’s definitely back in the game for good. He was always so serious about his commitment to the people of this city. You know that line I always tell you?”

“Baby powder in the suit reduces chafing?”

“The other one.”

“With great power-”

“-comes great responsibility,” Johnny finished. “He was the one who told me that. And he lived by it. Having used his power for something evil destroyed him a little. Maybe a lot.”

“What exactly did Daken make him do?” Miles asked cautiously.

“Do you remember the mercenaries Claws and Fangs?” Johnny questioned.

Miles’s eyes widened. “They killed so many people. Captain America and Iron Man too!”

“Peter was Fangs,” Johnny said quietly, “Daken manipulated him into doing all that.”

Miles looked aghast. “That’s  _ awful _ .”

Johnny nodded, finally taking a bite of his food and reheating it once he realized it was cold. “Yeah. It was. I’m glad Peter’s forgiven himself for that. It wasn’t his fault.”

Miles stabbed his food with unnecessary aggression. “Daken sounds like a monster.”

“He was a monster,” Johnny replied honestly, “But he was tortured from the moment he was born. The world made him into a monster, and then he embraced it.”

“Now that Peter’s back, are you gonna stop teaching me?” Miles asked suddenly, looking worried.

Johnny choked on a noodle. “ _ What? _ No, of course not! Honestly though, Peter would teach you better. Maybe if he really comes back, he can teach you. My use of his webshooters is rudimentary at best. He could show you better technique.”

“You’re a good teacher,” Miles said defensively, “Although I’d appreciate it if you stopped treating me like a baby.”

Johnny chuckled. “No chance.”

Miles huffed. “Jerk.”

Johnny grinned. “Peter would love you, did you know that?”

“Really?” Miles asked, his eyes wide, “You really think so?”

“I know so,” Johnny confirmed, “He’d absolutely adore you.”

Miles beamed. “Thanks, Johnny.”

Johnny smiled back. “Any time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so um... sad/happy chapter? Peter left and then he came back and now Miles is here! What a wild ride.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the final chapter! featuring an exciting reunion. by the way, since I forgot to mention it in the last chapter, Peter's new suit is the advanced suit from the ps4 game!

A few weeks went by. Peter started showing back up in the city, stopping small crimes and avoiding the Fantastic Four. Reporters kept asking them if he was the old Spider-Man back from the dead, and the Four chose not to comment. They didn’t want to get the city’s hopes up until they were sure Peter was back for good. But so far, he hadn’t bothered to even  _ try _ to contact them.

Johnny kept training Miles. He’d spent a lot of time with Peter and knew most of his moves and how he performed them, but the trick was passing that on to Miles when he couldn’t physically replicate them. He started showing Miles old videos of Peter in action and having him recreate them in the training room at the Tower. He also let Miles tag along with him on patrol, obviously, but when a fight came up he let the kid take the reins. Learning under pressure wasn’t the best learning system, but it worked out for Miles and that was what mattered.

Then Peter’s old super villains started getting  _ really _ bold. They collected themselves into a group known as the Sinister Six. The team consisted of Vulture, Scorpion, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Rhino, and Mysterio. Mysterio seemed to be the leader of the operation, piece of shit that he was, and the goal of his team was apparently to beat the shit out of Miles whenever they saw him. Perhaps it was to draw Peter out, but the only person it drew out was an enraged Johnny with Sue, Reed, and Ben as backup. They always sent them running, but the promise of their return hung over the five like an axe waiting to strike. Johnny was tired of it, and he was constantly scared he’d wake up one morning and Miles would be gone.

Miles, of course, didn’t share Johnny’s fear. He was confident in his own abilities and knew he had the Four as a safety net, so he went about life as usual. That cost him. Because one sunny afternoon when Johnny was sprawled out on his balcony soaking up the sun like a cat, he got a phone call from Miles.

“J-Johnny?” Miles stammered, “I need help.”

Johnny was immediately on his feet, putting Miles on speakerphone and going to change. “What’s up, kiddo?”

“The Six are here and I’m scared,” Miles replied, hiccuping loudly.

Johnny had never gotten into his suit faster. “Where are you at? I’ll be right there.”

“I’m by the Empire State. I think you’ll see the smoke.”

“Okay. I’m on my way. I believe in you, Miles. You can hold them off until I get there.”

“Okay. Please hurry.”

Johnny hung up. “Herbie, tell the others that the Six attacked Miles by the Empire State. I might need backup.”

He ditched his phone and flamed on, immediately spotting smoke in the distance and flying towards it. Johnny expected to see Miles getting crushed, but instead he saw Peter beating the everloving shit out of Mysterio, eyes clenched shut to block out whatever illusions he had up. His new suit really did look like artwork.

“Motherfucker!” Peter was screaming, “You beat on kids now? Makes you seem  _ real fucking brave! _ Can’t handle the Four so you gotta corner him when they’re not around?  _ Motherfucking piece of shit! _ ”

Johnny just hovered and gaped, but then Vulture’s wings threatened to slice him in half and he got to work. The rest of the team arrived not long after, and six on six made an even fight. Mysterio, Electro, and Scorpion got away, but the other three were ready to head to the Raft within ten minutes. Sue called in a favor with the Avengers.

“Are you okay?” Johnny asked as soon as he got to Miles, looking him up and down for injuries.

Miles nodded. “I’m fine. Just scared.”

Johnny hugged him tightly. “Why were you out on patrol by yourself?”

“I was coming to see you,” Miles mumbled, “And I was almost there too.”

Johnny sighed. “Jesus. We’re not doing this again, okay? From now on, you stay with me for patrol. No going out in the suit if I’m not with you.”

“I could go with him,” a familiar voice spoke up.

Johnny spun around. Peter stood a few feet away, arms hanging limply at his sides. Johnny swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry. He had a million things he wanted to say.

“Hey, Pete,” was what came out.

“Long time no see, huh?” Peter asked, “You probably hate me.”

Johnny laughed. “Hate you? God, webs, you’ve always been stupid. I could never hate you.”

He heard the grin in Peter’s voice when he spoke again. “You sure? I seem to recall you screaming at me because I ate the last slice of pizza on  _ multiple _ occasions.”

Johnny hugged him then, and Peter’s arms snapped around him so fast Johnny was sure he’d gotten whiplash. He smelled just like Johnny remembered, cheap cologne and the acid tang of webshooter formula. He started crying, unable to stop himself, and he felt Peter shake against him as he held back his own tears.

“I missed you so fucking much,” Johnny whispered.

Peter squeezed him even tighter. “I missed you too.”

“Look at you,” Johnny said when he stepped back, “Are you  _ taller _ than me now?”

Peter laughed. “It’s the shoes, relax. They give me like an  _ inch _ .”

“It’s a gorgeous suit,” Johnny said appreciatively, “I like all the white you added.”

“Wade says it’s stupid because bad guys can see me bleed,” Peter replied with laughter in his voice, “I told him they wouldn’t get the chance.”

“As you should,” Johnny said proudly.

Sue suddenly came out of nowhere and hugged Peter, followed by Ben and Reed (they’d apparently finished up their discussion with the Avengers that had come to pick up the villains). There was a lot more crying and laughter and general relief at seeing Peter alive and well. It was amazing. Johnny had been waiting so long for Peter’s return he could barely believe it was happening.

“Come to the tower with us,” Sue urged, “We can catch up!”

Peter hesitated. “Are you sure?”

“Don’t ask stupid questions,” Ben scolded, “You’re a genius.”

“He’s got Spider-Sense, but no common sense,” Reed joked fondly, “Come on, Pete. Just for a few hours and supper. Then we’ll let you go.”

“Okay, okay,” Peter agreed, “So I heard you have a kid?”

Sue grinned. “You’ll love him. We named him after you!”

Peter’s eye lenses got big. “Seriously? I thought Benjamin was for Ben!”

“No, idiot, it’s so you could have matching middle names,” Johnny retorted, “Are you dense? Why would they name him after someone they see every day?”

“I see your point. Now who’s the kid that’s been staring at me ever since I started talking?”

“I’m Miles,” Miles managed to say, “Miles Morales. You’re my hero.”

“Your hero, huh? Hopefully you won’t regret that when you get to know me. Johnny tell you about the baby powder in the suit yet?”

Peter started walking Miles towards the Fantasti-car, and Johnny exchanged a thrilled look with Sue before following them. They all crammed themselves in, even Johnny, and Peter spent the ride discussing spider things with Miles. All the things that Johnny hadn’t been able to put into words came flowing right out of Peter’s mouth, and Johnny was pretty sure Miles learned more in the short flight than he had in his whole time with Johnny. He was also right. Peter immediately adored Miles.

“So how is San Francisco?” Reed asked as they walked inside the Tower.

“It’s good,” Peter said, “I have an old work buddy there. He helped me get on my feet. Good guy. He’s had some wild stuff happen to him recently, and I kinda helped him out with it too.”

“Wild stuff like the reports of a monster in that city?” Sue asked.

“Uh, well, yes. It’s a long story. I’ll explain it later.”

“Let’s all get comfortable and then we can talk,” Reed suggested, “And Sue, we  _ really _ need to get Franklin a babysitter.”

“I know a few people,” Peter offered, “I can hook you up.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” Sue replied.

“Come on, Pete,” Johnny said, “I’ll give you some clothes.”

Johnny, Peter, and Miles went to Johnny’s room. Miles had some clothes he kept stored in Johnny’s room for when he was with the Four. Johnny got a pair of sweatpants and a Fantastic Four t-shirt for Peter.

“Uh, please don’t freak out when I take off my mask,” Peter said quietly after Miles had gone into the bathroom to change.

Johnny raised his eyebrows. “Why would I freak out?”

Peter took off his mask. He looked mostly the same, except there was a jagged X-shaped scar that met on the bridge of his nose and extended a little past his eyebrows and down the sides of his nose. He also had a slit cut in one eyebrow, which interested Johnny almost as much as the scar did. And his hair was lighter, like he’d been spending a lot of time in the sun.

“I know it looks fucked up,” Peter said, looking almost embarrassed.

“You’re still gorgeous,” Johnny whispered, “You’ll always be gorgeous, Pete.”

Peter smiled. “Thank you.”

“Also, I like this,” Johnny said with a grin, poking at the eyebrow slit, “Makes you look like even more of a badass.”

Peter’s smile widened. “Oh, I know. Eddie actually suggested I get it.”

Johnny raised one eyebrow. “Eddie?”

“Work buddy in San Fran,” Peter explained, “Which I will tell you all about when the others are around.  _ And _ I’ll tell you how I got this damn scar.”

“Fine by me,” Johnny said agreeably.

They both got quiet. Johnny wanted to kiss him, but he wasn’t sure how Peter would react. The silence was interrupted by Miles walking out of the bathroom. Peter took a step away from Johnny as if he was scared.

“Nice scar,” Miles commented, “It looks badass.”

“Hey, language,” Johnny scolded, “Sue will kick my ass if she hears you swearing.”

Miles muttered something under his breath that made Peter laugh. Johnny huffed with annoyance.

“I’m gonna go change,” Peter said, heading to the bathroom, “Be right back.”

“Go out to the living room,” Johnny instructed Miles when Peter had shut the door, “We’ll be out soon.”

Miles smirked. “Get some.”

Johnny punched him lightly on the arm. “Shut up. Just go.”

Miles grinned and left, shutting the door behind him. Johnny sighed and changed into the shorts and t-shirt he’d been wearing earlier, then waited patiently for Peter. He walked out of the bathroom looking perfect as usual, his suit folded up neatly in his arms.

“Thanks for the clothes,” Peter said appreciatively.

“You can keep them,” Johnny offered.

Peter’s eyes softened. “We need to talk.”

“I’m still in love with you,” Johnny said bluntly, “If you’re not that’s fine, I just want you to know.”

“God, Storm, you’ve always been stupid too,” Peter replied, shaking his head.

He set his suit on the bed and stepped forward, kissing Johnny so passionately Johnny nearly fainted. He held on to Peter like a lifeline, resting his forehead against the younger man’s even when they had to part to breathe.

“You’re really good at that,” Johnny whispered.

Peter kissed him again, softly that time. “I love you too, you dork.”

“Do you wanna come live with us?” Johnny asked, “Harry said you were staying with him, but I figured since we have the room…”

“I’d like that,” Peter agreed with a soft smile, “But maybe we should run it by the others first.”

Johnny waved a hand dismissively. “They won’t care.”

“Seems like you already have a full Tower,” Peter commented, “A baby, a kid  _ you _ apparently adopted…”

“I didn’t  _ adopt _ Miles,” Johnny scoffed, “He’s got two perfectly good parents and a very chill uncle. I just happen to be his mentor.”

“I know you,” Peter teased, “You’d do anything for that kid. I can tell. He’s got you wrapped around his finger, doesn’t he?”

Johnny huffed. “Okay,  _ yeah _ , but he’ll do the same thing to you when you get to know him. He’s a sweetheart. Moving on. There’s still room for you here. My bed is king size.”

He smirked triumphantly as Peter just shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“We’ll discuss it as a  _ family _ ,” Peter insisted, “Which, speaking of, I want to meet Franklin.”

They walked out to the living room together. Miles was sitting on the floor getting Franklin to crawl between him and Sue. Everyone looked up when they entered, but no comments on Peter’s scar were made. Johnny picked up Franklin mid-crawl.

“Franklin, meet your uncle Peter,” Johnny introduced.

Franklin reached out to Peter and babbled happily, and Peter beamed and took him from Johnny.

“He’s so cute,” Peter cooed, looking up at Sue, “He looks just like you!”

“Well, Storm genes are usually dominant,” Sue joked with fake haughtiness, laughing as Reed sighed, “Although he does have Reed’s jawline.”

“Quick question,” Johnny said, “Would anyone be opposed to Peter moving in with us?”

“Of course not!” Sue replied immediately, “He can have the guest bedroom.”

“He won’t need it if he’s sleeping with me,” Johnny said casually.

Miles smirked at Johnny and Johnny flipped him off.

“Even better,” Sue responded, “Then the guest bedroom can be for actual guests.”

Johnny turned to Peter. “See? Told you they wouldn’t care.”

Peter made a face. “I just wanted to be  _ sure _ .”

“When can you start moving in?” Reed asked.

Peter shrugged. “Really any time. I don’t have much to move. Just clothes and shit. I doubt Harry will even notice I left. He spends a lot of his time at Oscorp. I’ll still tell him, obviously, but he’s not gonna mind.”

“He told us he was tryna give you a job,” Ben spoke up.

Peter nodded. “Yeah. He did already, actually. I work Monday through Friday from eight AM to eight PM. Except I come in at ten on Tuesdays and Fridays because I have therapy appointments those days. He’s got me on a few different projects. No one’s really pleased with it since I don’t have a degree, but Harry doesn’t care. He does what’s best for his company no matter what people think. And apparently he thinks I’m good for the company.”

“You will be,” Reed said, “You’re just as smart as me, Pete. Oscorp will be good for you.”

“Anything’s better than going back to photography,” Peter commented, “At least Jameson finally shut up about me.”

“He beats on Miles now,” Johnny complained, “I’m sick of his shit.”

“He probably has arachnophobia,” Ben joked.

Peter snorted. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Peter handed Franklin off to Miles and sat down on the couch next to Reed. Johnny sat next to him. There was silence for a moment as everyone watched Miles play with Franklin, but then Sue spoke up again.

“So what was it like in San Francisco?” she asked, “What did you do?”

Peter leaned back. “Well, where do I start? San Fran is amazing. It’s similar enough to New York for me to be at home, but not similar enough for me to hate it. I got an apartment the first day I got there and a job about a week later. It was just a job at Starbucks. Nothing serious. Environment was actually kinda toxic, but I got free stuff and my coworkers were pretty nice. After that, I started looking for a more fulfilling job. That’s when I met Eddie. Eddie Brock.”

“The reporter guy?” Miles asked, “The one who used to call out corrupt corporations and got kicked out of New York City?”

“Yup, that’s him,” Peter confirmed, “He used to work at the Bugle with me.”

“You worked at the  _ Bugle? _ ” Miles exclaimed incredulously, “For the guy who hates you?”

Peter laughed. “Yeah, I did. He paid good money for pictures of Spider-Man, and I was in the convenient position of  _ being _ Spider-Man, so it worked out for me.”

“So what happened with Brock?” Reed questioned.

“Shit went down with the Life Foundation, as you should know,” Peter explained, “Eddie picked up a symbiote by the name of Venom. He’s kinda like a big alien goop monster, but really his only goals are to eat and sleep and he’s pretty chill. He stopped Riot, this big nasty symbiote that gave me this scar, from bringing a shit ton of symbiotes to Earth and ruling the planet. That’s the summarized version. I’ll give you a more detailed version when there isn’t a kid around. No offense, Miles. It’s just really graphic.”

Miles frowned but seemed to accept it.

“And you dealt with this even though you’d given up being Spider-Man?” Ben asked.

Peter made a face. “Dealt with? Not really. Eddie and Venom did most of the work. I just helped where I could. I didn’t really do any physical fighting except on accident when Riot cornered me. Eddie and Venom know the whole story about why I left New York and why I quit being Spider-Man, so they didn’t expect me to help out much. And in the end they didn’t really need much help.”

“So what’d you do after that mess sorted itself out?” Johnny questioned.

“Well, Eddie wanted to get back into the reporting business, and that’s always been a hobby of mine,” Peter explained, “He needed a photographer anyway. His ex had a few contacts that let us get a little partnership going at a local newspaper. I say newspaper, but a lot of it is online. I took the photos, Eddie did the research and interviews. I helped a little, but he’s good at his job. He and Venom didn’t really need me for that stuff. Eddie actually didn’t need Venom for that stuff either, but Venom hates using my body because my mind has a lot of fucked up shit going on, so even though Eddie tries to convince him to stay with me he tags along.”

“Venom sounds like quite the character,” Reed commented, “What does he do, exactly?”

“He’s essentially a parasite,” Peter replied, “Although if you call him that he gets very upset. His species can’t survive without a host. In this example, Eddie is his host. He survives off the nutrient intake of Eddie’s body, and in turn he acts as sort of a protector of Eddie. Initially, the only reason he bonded with Eddie was so he could survive. Now they act like an old married couple. It’s ridiculous to watch, actually.”

“You mentioned he used your body once? What was that like?”

Peter grimaced. “Weird. And kind of painful at first, before he settles in. It almost feels like a second layer of  _ something _ inside you. He’s interacting with every single one of your organs. Attached to them, to be specific. He also enhances the emotions you already have. Us staying together probably would’ve sent me over the edge. I had a huge relapse even with him just being with me for a few hours. That was a long time ago, though. He’s been with me a couple other times since then, and we’ve been okay. He tries to stay away from my negative emotions.”

“A relapse of what, Pete?” Sue asked gently.

Peter sighed, glancing at Miles. “Does he know what happened to me?”

“I told him the first night we saw you again,” Johnny said sheepishly.

“That’s fine,” Peter reassured him, “I just didn’t want to confuse him. To answer your question, Sue, when I first got to San Fran I wasn’t in the right head space. Which was to be expected. I had a lot of suicidal thoughts. And one way for me to relieve pain, briefly as it was with my enhanced healing, was to cut. And I did. A lot.”

He held up his arms, flipping them so the pale skin of his inner arms was exposed. His forearms were covered in scars, some worse-looking than others. Johnny let out a small gasp.

“Oh my God,” Sue said, covering her mouth with one hand.

“I’m fine now, I promise,” Peter reassured her, “I’ve gone to lots of therapy.  _ Lots _ of therapy. What Daken made me do doesn’t bother me anymore. It wasn’t my choice, it was his. I have to live with that, yes, but I don’t blame myself. I blame him.”

“We should’ve been there for you,” Johnny said sadly.

“That’s on me,” Peter pointed out, “I’m sure no one wanted to talk about this in front of Miles, but it needs to be said. Dropping all contact with you was stupid. At first, it was because I didn’t want to remember anything that had happened in New York, but that didn’t even help. And then I was scared if I got close to you all again I’d just end up hurting you again. Which was pretty stupid because I’d never purposely hurt you. But then I was just scared in general because it had been so long and I didn’t know how you would all react. Turns out I didn’t need to be scared of that, but I was.”

“I said I didn’t hate you earlier, but I was still mad about that,” Johnny admitted, “I couldn’t understand why you’d just drop us like that. So thank you for explaining.”

Peter looked over at him, reaching out and holding his hand. “I’m sorry. You can be mad if you want.”

Johnny shook his head. “Forget it. You’re here now, aren’t you? And you’re gonna stay. That’s what matters.”

Peter nodded. “Yeah.”

They talked for a few more hours as Peter caught up with what the Four had been up to and the Four caught up with what Peter had been up to. Then Johnny started making supper. He decided on tacos because it was quick and he knew Peter loved them. The six of them ate together while Miles simultaneously convinced Franklin to eat some baby food. Afterwards, there was the issue of Miles getting home.

“I’m not letting you swing home,” Johnny said bluntly, “I don’t care if three of the Six are well on their way to the Raft. The other three are still out there, and I wouldn’t put it past them to try to attack again. I’m driving you home.”

“But my  _ parents _ ,” Miles whined, “They can’t see us together!”

“I’ll drop you off a block away,” Johnny offered.

Miles sighed. “Fine.”

He looked over at where Peter was standing listening to Sue explain how to use their new coffee maker. Johnny could tell he wanted to spend more time with the older spider.

“Hey, Pete,” Johnny called across the room, “Wanna come with? I’m driving Miles home.”

Peter looked up. “Yeah, why not? I’ll meet you in the garage.”

Johnny and Miles went down to the garage. Miles picked out Johnny’s blue 1965 Ford Mustang convertible, but Johnny banned him to the backseat so he could sit next to Peter. Peter walked in with a mug of hot chocolate clutched in his hands, and he climbed carefully into the car.

“If you spill that, I’ll slaughter you,” Johnny warned, “This car is a  _ classic _ .”

“Relax,” Peter soothed, “I never spill. So Miles, where are you from?”

“Brooklyn,” Miles replied.

“Brooklyn, huh? I know a few other supers from there.”

Johnny let the two talk for the drive there, listening carefully and occasionally adding a comment. He could tell Miles was overjoyed to finally have someone who really understood what it was like to be a spider. He clicked with Peter in a way that Johnny knew he never could. Johnny wasn’t upset by that, though. He was happy Miles and Peter had someone they could relate to so well. And he was just generally happy Peter was back, sitting next to him in his car and smiling in a way Johnny hadn’t seen him do in such a long time. There had been a palpable difference between pre-Daken Peter and post-Daken Peter, and Johnny had once beaten himself up over how long it had taken him to notice. He was glad to see Peter back to normal, if it could even be called that. He’d never be normal again.

“Have a good night, kiddo,” Johnny said when he’d pulled up to the curb about a block away from where Miles lived, “Be safe.”

“It’s a  _ block _ ,” Miles replied with exasperation.

“That’s a long walk for someone with short legs,” Johnny teased.

Miles groaned as he got out of the car. “You’re lame, Storm. Good night.”

Johnny and Peter just sat there to make sure Miles didn’t get kidnapped in his short walk home, and then Johnny put the car in drive and they started on their way home.

“He’s a good kid,” Peter commented, sipping his remaining hot chocolate, “I can see why you love him so much.”

“I’ve tried to teach him how you would have,” Johnny said, “I’m not the best choice for the job, but you weren’t here and he needed someone, you know?”

“You don’t have to explain that to me, Johnny,” Peter reassured him, “And I think you’ve done a pretty damn good job.”

“I taught him the responsibility line and everything,” Johnny joked.

Peter chuckled. “Of course you did.”

“Your laugh is still the best thing,” Johnny said softly, glancing over at him, “I missed hearing that.”

“Well, you’ll get to hear it a lot more often now,” Peter pointed out with a smile.

“Do you wanna stay the night tonight?” Johnny asked.

“Took you long enough to ask,” Peter replied with a small smirk, “Of course. I’ll text Harry and let him know.”

He held his mug in one hand and dug around in his pockets with the other, sending a quick text and then resting his phone on his thigh. Johnny noticed his lock screen was a picture of them from before the whole Daken mess. Johnny was posing in his iconic Spider-Man onesie and Peter was just laughing hysterically in the background. Sue had taken that picture.

“I like your lock screen,” Johnny said casually.

Peter grinned. “Yeah, it’s of you. I just love that onesie.”

“I’ll wear it for you tonight,” Johnny drawled, “I know it really turns you on.”

Peter snorted. “Yeah, totally.”

“Got a question for you,” Johnny said, abruptly changing the subject, “How’s the tally count?”

“The same as it was the day I left,” Peter responded calmly, “One hundred and seventy. And it’s gonna stay the same.”

“That’s a bold statement.”

“Not because people won’t die under my watch in the next few years,” Peter corrected him, “I’m sure that will happen. I’d like it to not, but it’s inevitable. I’m just done blaming myself for things I can’t always control. I’ve done it since I was a kid. It’s just been ingrained into me since then. Daken, in a really fucked up way, made me realize that sometimes people die and I can’t stop it, even if I try. Some of these tallies have names attached to them that I’ll never forget, but their deaths weren’t explicitly my fault. I’ve come to terms with that. So I’m done with the tallies. I’ve actually thought about getting most of them removed.”

“Most of them?”

“I wanna keep a few. Ben, Gwen, May, and Daken.”

Johnny had to stop himself from aggressively pushing down the accelerator. “ _ Daken?! _ ”

“I want to remember him,” Peter explained, “That’s probably not healthy, but I would’ve killed him if Sue hadn’t done it first. I want to remember that. That if someone pushed me far enough, I could kill. Because I don’t want to be a killer on my own, Johnny. The people I killed under Daken’s control don’t count towards that. But I want to remember that there was once someone I would’ve killed. I don’t want to make that mistake again.”

Johnny took a deep breath. “I get that, to a degree, but I just-  _ Daken _ .”

“You don’t have to understand it,” Peter replied simply, “It’s for me. Not for you.”

Johnny processed that. “Okay. That’s fine.”

Peter looked over at him. “You’re noticing it.”

Johnny raised his eyebrows. “Noticing what?”

“I’m not the same person I was a year ago,” Peter responded, “Don’t lie.”

Johnny huffed out a sigh. “Yes, I’m noticing it. You’re- I don’t know. Daken made you grow up, if that’s even a phrase I can use in this context. Before all this, you were completely selfless, and you beat yourself up over every bad thing that happened that you couldn’t prevent. So, in a way, it’s better this way. I hated watching you do that to yourself. But at the same time, I need to get used to it.”

“You’re saying I’m not selfless now?” Peter questioned.

Johnny shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s been half a day. I’ll find out. If you’re not, that’s okay. If you still are, that’s okay too. You’re not a doll for me to play with. I can’t create your personality for you. But I know that I’ll still be in love with you at the end of the day, because I’ve loved you since I was sixteen and we’ve been through a lot of shit since then and I  _ still _ love you.”

Peter let out a breath. “Thank you.”

“I want to get to know you again,” Johnny said quietly, knowing Peter could hear him, “And I want to help you with whatever bad stuff you’ve still got locked up in that head of yours. A year is a long time, but I know you’re not completely okay yet. Maybe you’ll never be completely okay. But I still want to help you.”

Peter’s relief was audible in his voice. “Thank you. Again. It might be hard for you. Eddie and Venom could understand it because Venom had been inside my head and he passed it on to Eddie, but you’ve never been in my shoes. I don’t  _ want _ you to be in my shoes. But if you can’t understand what I’m going through sometimes, please just try to be accommodating.”

“Always,” Johnny promised, taking one hand off the wheel to hold Peter’s hand, “I promise.”

Peter smiled gently, squeezing his hand. “Thank you. For the third time in two minutes.”

“You don’t have to keep thanking me,” Johnny replied, stopping at a red light and looking over at Peter.

Peter sighed softly, leaning over and resting his head on Johnny’s shoulder. He didn’t say anything, just started humming to himself. It was a tune Johnny didn’t recognize, but he didn’t ask what it was. It didn’t feel like a good time to ask. The rest of their drive was quiet.

It took a while for Peter to settle back in with the Four (and the addition of Miles and Franklin). He was a different person, and it took the Four a while to get used to it. But they did because they loved him and wanted to help him recover as much as he possibly could. Sometimes at night, Johnny would wake up to Peter thrashing and mumbling in his sleep, and he did his best to comfort Peter when he woke up from a nightmare. And slowly,  _ very _ slowly, he watched Peter’s nightmares go away. He watched Peter’s occasional dark mood swings disappear, and he watched as Peter literally swung back into being Spider-Man with the same joy he’d had as a teenager. He amazed Johnny with how much strength he had. Peter got all but four of his tallies removed, so they centered on the back of his neck. That was how Johnny knew he was truly letting go of all of his regret. He was so,  _ so _ proud of Peter.

Of course, healing took time. Johnny knew that Peter would be living with his memories for the rest of his life, and there was nothing he could do about it. But Johnny could stand by his side and support him, and he could help him through the hard days and make sure he knew he was loved. That was important. It was what mattered. And Johnny wanted to do it for the rest of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! Hopefully I tied up all the loose ends, but if you have any questions please comment! I hope everyone enjoyed reading!


End file.
